


Mending Hearts

by NotosK



Category: Naruto
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Real World, Arranged Marriage, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-05-19 14:31:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14875556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotosK/pseuds/NotosK
Summary: Just when he discovers the love of his life in bed with his best friend, Naruto finds out about his arranged marriage with the daughter of the Hyuga family. With his heart broken he decided to accept the arrangement out of duty, can she make him remember what love really is?





	1. A Kind Smile

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Recuperando El Amor](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/387920) by susuna. 



> I KNOW! I KNOW! Don’t look at me like that! Will I ever finish a fic? I don’t know! my stories have been gotten bigger over time…   
> Ok, Right, ‘Her Eyes Were Green’ isn’t abandoned… is just, the characters refuse to do anything so I’m doing this to unclog my writer's block hopefully  
> What I have been doing all this time?… mostly playing Fallout 4 and Skyrim, yeah, hopefully, I can get back into a good writing rhythm.   
> This is an adaptation of ‘Recuperando el Amor’ by Susuna, one of the most popular NaruHina Real world AU fics in Spanish. I found that fic several months ago and liked the concept, unfortunately, the author seems to have disappeared from the FF community around 2013 and hasn’t logged ever since.  
> I sent her a PM asking for permission to translate it but I haven’t received an answer, so I’m going ahead and publish this adaptation, I’m going to change a lot of things and while this chapter is heavily based on her first chapters things will start to change more and more at about chapter 4.   
> Warnings: some characters may be slightly OOC, there will be one instance of cheating (chapter 2), and maybe PG13 sexy stuff later on.

**CHAPTER 1: A KIND SMILE (PROLOGUE)**

It was late in the evening, the sky was overcast and the weather was humid. Naruto followed his parents along the large garden; his hands in his pockets and pout on his face, he stomped the grass with each step, the only reason he wasn’t throwing a tantrum was that he wasn’t a baby anymore.

He was eleven years old already!

Why did he have to come to some kid’s birthday party?

If his parents hadn’t dragged him to this stupid and boring place full of stuck up and boring people, he could be at Sakura-chan’s house or at least he would be practicing karate with the bastard. Naruto’s thoughts were cut short when he collided with something hard, his father’s back who had stopped walking.

“Naruto,” his father said, “stop pouting, I’m sure you’ll have fun!”

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms over his chest “I’m not _pouting_ ” he asked his father raising his eyebrows a bit “and I’m sure I’ll have tons of fun babysitting a three years old” His mom ruffled his hair to his dismay

“Hinata-chan turns six today,” said his mother matter of factly and with a condescending smile on her face

“Six? Three?” he shrugged indicating that he didn’t see the difference  “She’s a child! I’m sure I’ll be bored to death” both his mom and dad smiled at him “Why couldn't I bring my PFP?” His father squatted in front of him so his face was level with Naruto’s, He put a hand on Naruto’s shoulder and looked him directly into his eyes

“Naruto, you are a big boy, right?” Naruto nodded a bit nervous, his father, for once, had a serious expression on his face “Hyuga Hiashi, Hinata-chan’s father, is a very important friend _and_ business partner, I want you to make a good impression on him and his daughter” Naruto nodded again “so no more pouting!”

“I wasn’t pouting” Naruto pouted

“Right” his father stood up “Naruto, you know how you will Inherit our business right?” Naruto nodded again, his parents owned a chain of Hospitals all over the country, Konoha Clinics, it was started by Naruto’s great-great maternal grandfather. Hagaromo Uzumaki.

“Yes, dad,” he said with a practiced sing-song voice.

“Well, Hinata-chan is the same, so It will be good to maintain an amicable relationship with her”

“Yeah, Yeah”

“One yeah is sufficient” his father chuckled and with that, the tension seemed to ease up, he ruffled Naruto’s hair and gave him a smile. “I’m glad you understand”

When they reached the house’s porch his father ringed the bell, it didn’t take long before a butler opened the door and invited them to come inside.

The Hyuga's house was big, the entrance hall to the mansion was a little bit bigger than the one at Naruto’s house, it had two stairways to the second floor, the floor was made of soft tatami mats and the decoration was traditional in style with classical paintings and kanji scrolls lining the walls.

Some of the guests were already mingling among themselves, Naruto searched for someone close to his age, but to no one's surprise, everyone was either a five years old baby or an old geezer. He knew that he was going to get bored to death.

“Naruto, Isn’t Neji-kun your classmate?” Said his mother as she saw Neji sitting on a corner reading a book, Naruto rolled his eyes

“Mom, Neji is a year older than me, we barely talk, also, he is a nerd”

“Naruto,” said his father with a dangerous voice, Naruto shrugged and put his hands in his pockets “Why don’t you go and try to talk to him”

“I rather go without ramen for a week” he sighed “Can I— I don’t know, sit in a corner until we can go home” his father opened his mouth but was interrupted by a deep baritone voice

“Minato! I’m glad you could make it!” Naruto turned to look at a tall man with long brown hair and pale eyes, for a moment Naruto thought the man was blind but then he set his eyes on him “This must be Naruto” the man offered his hand to Naruto and he shook it out of courtesy “you have grown so much, last time I saw you, you were a baby, I’m Hyuga Hiashi and this—” the man cleared his throat and Naruto could swear he heard a mouse squeak.

A small girl with short dark blue hair in a hime cut was grasping the man’s Yukata, she was hiding almost all of her body behind her father, and her face was flushed red. Hiashi put a hand on the little girl’s shoulder and, quite skillfully, moved her in front of him

“This is my daughter, Hinata,” The girl’s pale eyes set themselves on Naruto and when Naruto looked at her she averted her gaze, she stared at her sandals

 _Weirdo._ It was the first thing Naruto thought

“Wow, little Hinata-chan has grown a lot!” His mom gushed over Hinata “Minato, Isn’t she cute?” his father only gave her a smile

“Sure she is,” said his father making the girl start fidgeting with her fingers while her whole face and ears turned a dark shade of red. Then Hiashi gave her a little push, Hinata Took a step forward.

“Wel-welcome to our home, I ho-hope y-you enjoy your sta-stay” Hinata stuttered, Naruto frowned at the girl, because of this weirdo he had to come to this boring party? He could be with Sakura-chan instead of wasting his time here.

He felt a mild pain in his back, his mom had pinched him. so he smiled at the girl, the girl blushed again and hid behind her father who let out a sigh

“Naruto, why don’t you give her her present?” Naruto gave his mom a pained look while she retrieved from her purse a small box warped in pale-blue paper with small red swirls.

Not only he was dragged to a baby’s birthday party, in what would probably become the most boring day of his life, he also had to give her the gift which was embarrassing! Naruto let out a sigh and took the box from his mom’s hands then took a step forward and around Hiashi, he inclined his head and looked at the girl’s pale eyes, the girl buried her face into her dad’s yukata.

Naruto’s left eye twitched.

“Happy Birthday Hinata,” Naruto said stiffly and offered the small box to the girl, Hiashi, again, pushed the girl’s back lightly, she turned her head and saw the offered box with wide eyes and hesitantly she took it.

“Th-thank you…” she stared at it for a few seconds, then, to his surprise, she smiled before turning her eyes towards Naruto “Can— can I open it?”

“If you want, it’s yours after all” said Naruto feigning indifference, even though the girl was a weirdo, and he didn’t want to accept it, the girl was extremely cute, her pale skin contrasted with her dark blue hair and gave her the appearance of a porcelain doll, her eyes were pale like her father’s, but had a faint lavender tint, her nose was small like a button and her lips were rosy, and she seemed to have a permanent blush on her cheeks.

Yeah, she was cute, but a total weirdo.

Once she finished opening the present, and she took more time than necessary because she refused to tear apart the warping paper, her eyes went wide with surprise when she found on her hands a silver necklace with two small bells, one was made of normal gold and had a sun engraved on it, the other one was silver and had a half-moon on it.

The girl looked at Naruto and gave him the brightest smile he had ever seen, she walked out of her hiding place behind her father and bowed deeply to Naruto.

“Thank you very much for this present, Naruto-kun” the overtly formal way he was addressed made Naruto's face warm up, his hand found the back of his neck and he rubbed his nape.

“I-It’s Nothing” he laughed nervously, looking sideways trying to hide his, probably, own blushing face

“Naruto chose it especially for you Hinata-chan” Naruto couldn't help but let out a groan and glare at his mom, he was about to deny it but one look at Hinata’s wide smile and shining eyes made him stop.

Whatever.

It was true that he had chosen it, but it hadn't been _‘specially’_ or anything like that, a few days ago his mother had almost dragged him to go chose a present for Hinata, once they had arrived in Shinjuku Naruto had decided to buy the first thing that her mother approved and be done with it.

They spent the whole day there.

About the time Naruto was ready to give up and buy her some toy or something, he saw from the corner of his eyes, a small jewelry shop that people seemed to pass by without a second glance.

Somehow intrigued, he walked closer and looked through the shop’s window, there was a variety of jewelry on display: rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets made of gold, silver, and other precious metals.

Naruto considered it, maybe a ring or necklace was too much for a five-year-old baby, so he turned around but found his path blocked a by a tall lady with purple hair and a paper flower adorning it.

“Excuse me—” he said politely, but before he could walk away the lady spoke

“Are you looking for a present? … a birthday present, perhaps?” Naruto looked at the woman before frowning and nodding, “Come in, I have _exactly_ what you are looking for” Naruto wanted to run away from the creepy lady but instead he followed her inside the shop.

She walked behind the counter and started rummaging through the shelves until she retrieved a necklace with two bells, she offered it to Naruto, so he took it.

He looked at it and noted the sun and moon motif, it seemed made of gold and silver, it was probably too expensive for a six years old’s present

“The sun bell is made of gold and the moon one is made out of silver, the chain is made of platinum.”

Naruto grimaced “It sounds expensive,” the woman smiled at Naruto but didn’t say anything.

“That’s so cute!” Naruto winced before he turned around and saw his mother looking at the necklace, she snatched it away from his hands, “Hinata-chan is going to love it”

“Mom, isn’t she, like, way too young for expensive jewelry?” his mom clicked her tongue

“Naruto, you still don’t understand girls hearts, there is no girl, no matter her age, that wouldn’t love a good piece of fine jewelry.

“It looks too expensive, she probably would lose it within a week” her mom rolled her eyes and ignored him, she looked at the woman with the purple hair

“How much is it”

The woman took a small slip of paper and wrote on it, then she handed it to his mom, Kushina’s eyes went wide, she looked at the slip and then the woman, several times.

“Is this right? Aren’t you missing a few zeros?” Said his mom.

“It’s all right,” Said the woman with a calm voice “the prices of this shop’s products varies depending on the client, I can assure you this necklace was waiting for you,” She looked at Naruto and gave him a slight smile “the person you give this to will be someone important in your life” She smiled again, Naruto frowned not understanding what the woman was saying, maybe if this was a gift for Sakura-chan her comment would make sense, but for a complete stranger— he didn’t have time to think more about it as his mom paid for the necklace before running home to show dad the gift Naruto had chosen.

At first, the woman with the paper flower on her head seemed like a lunatic, but now seeing Hinata showing her father the necklace with an excited expression and a huge smile on her face, he couldn't agree more, the necklace seemed to have been made especially for Hinata.

_The person you give this to would be someone important in your life._

He frowned as he remembered the woman’s words, he shook his head to clear his mind, Naruto watched as Hiashi put the necklace on Hinata, she smiled at him again. Naruto felt something on his chest but ignored it.

“Well, Minato, Kushina, Naruto-kun, Please enjoy the party, we need to greet the other guests.” both Hinata and Hiashi bowed and Hiashi, looking over his dad's shoulder continued “Otsutsuki-san! where is Toneri?” Naruto glanced at the Otsutsuki man as he followed her mom and dad to the back patio, he was a tall, pale and had long grey hair.

“Hyuga-san, I’m sorry, but Toneri caught a cold—” Naruto couldn't hear the rest as they walked to the patio. There were already a lot of guests there, some sitting on chairs, eating snacks, some little kids playing tag, Naruto followed his parents completely bored out of his mind while being forced to greet old geezers and grannies, he couldn't remember any of their names

So he just nodded and smiled.

At the end of what seemed an eternity Naruto ended sitting by a tall tree away from everyone, next to him was an empty plate resting on the freshly cut grass. When the time had come to cut the cake and hand out slices all the little kids had piled up and started pushing and yelling.

Naruto didn’t want to have anything to do with that.

So he had chosen to stay away from the rampage.

A slice of cake wasn't worth getting between these little monsters, maybe if it had been ramen he had taken his chances, he sighed before closing his eyes and resting his head on the tree’s bark, he was about to fall asleep when he heard the sound of dry leaves being crushed, he opened one eye and saw Hinata walking towards him precariously balancing a plate with cake in her hands. Her face was red and her knees seemed to tremble with every step but she didn’t stop until she was a few paces away from him.

Then she bowed and offered Naruto the cake.

“For me?” Hinata nodded vigorously, Naruto took the plate from her hands “Thanks!” He said and smiled a toothy grin at her, Hinata looked up and meet eyes with Naruto, she let out a weird sound like ‘ _eep’_ and bolted away, Naruto shrugged and started eating the cake, it was a soft, fluffy and delicious chocolate cake. He devoured it in no time and after he finished, bored out of his mind, he started to watch the kids playing a game of tag.

He remembered playing like that when he was little, Sasuke always won and Sakura-chan always sided with him, He plucked a fistful of grass and threw it away, Naruto frowned.

 _He could be with Sakura-chan right now!_ How was he supposed to make her realize that he was cooler than the bastard if he had to come to these boring parties?

After about ten minutes he realized Hinata wasn’t playing with the other kids, he started looking for her, it was a bit hard, the girl had no presence, but found her hiding behind a tree staring at the boys and girls running.

Naruto looked up at the sky and then back at Hinata who was still staring at the other kids, he noticed she was pushing both her forefingers together, she took a step forward as if she was going to join the other kids but one of them chose that moment to yell loudly at another, Hinata was behind the tree again before Naruto could even notice it.

He hesitated for a moment, he didn’t really have to do anything, it wasn’t his problem, and he would get nothing out of it.

Then he stared at the empty plate resting beside him and remembered her smile when he gave her her present, and how politely she thanked him.

He let out an exasperated sigh before standing up, Naruto walked stealthily towards where Hinata was hiding trying not to startle her.

_I better find a way to get mom to buy me a new PFP game for this!_

“Hinata?” He whispered, the girl jumped on her spot almost two feet up, Naruto chuckled “Calm down,” He said and did a calming motion with his hands “It’s me, Naruto, do you remember me right?” he felt stupid saying that, it hadn't been an hour since the girl had brought him the cake, or maybe he was sounding too sarcastic, the girl nodded looking at her own sandals.

“do—” he let out a sigh _this was too embarrassing_ “do you want to play with the other kids?” Hinata head snapped up and she stared at Naruto, for a second Naruto thought she looked like she wanted to run away but Naruto had her cornered, she hesitated for a moment but then she nodded and continued to stare at her sandals.

“right— can I tell you a secret?” He said the girl looked back at Naruto, _good, he had her attention now,_ he leaned forward a few inches away from her ears, which instantly turned red, and using his hand to block the view as if he was telling her the secrets of life the universe and everything “That necklace is magical” he wanted to kick himself for saying something so stupid.

“Magi-Magical?” she said, Naruto grimaced internally, little kids were so gullible

“Yeah!” he said cheerfully “if you ring the bells you can do anything without fail!” Hinata’s eyes went wide “for example if you want to play with the other kids, you can ring the bell to activate its magic and for sure they will want to play with you!” the girl looked dubiously at Naruto, Naruto tried to put on a confident façade by smiling at her

Hinata smiled at Naruto, again for the second time that day Naruto felt something weird in his chest.

Hinata retrieved the necklace from under her kimono and ringed one bell, then took a step forward and walked to the kids playing. Naruto leaned on the wall and saw her speak with one of the boys, the kid seemed surprised at first but quickly invited her to play with them, he explained the rules and in no time Hinata was running around with the other small kids.

Naruto smiled to himself, feeling unusually proud for that.

-=o=O=o=-

“Danzo has been trying to buy, under different aliases, shares from minor shareholders, He has been using some rather underhanded tactics to bully them to let their shares go” Said Minato to Hiashi, both of them were in the back patio drinking tea from two finely decorated cups, kids laughing and running where the background sounds. Hiashi nodded at Minato

“I— I see…” Hiashi said sounding distracted and then smiled, something he rarely did, he was looking over Minato’s shoulder, that made him turn his head, where he found his son talking with Hinata beside a large pear tree, It was too far away to hear what they were talking about, but then Hinata did something with her necklace and went to play with the other kids. When Minato turned to Hiashi he had a surprised expression on his face.

“Hiashi?” said Minato with concern

“Your kid, Naruto, he is something else,” Minato tilted his head to the side, not understanding “Hinata is extremely shy,” he said before taking a sip from his cup “but she is soft-spoken, polite and extremely kind, just like Honoka was,” a sad smile set itself on Hiashi’s face, he stayed silent for a beat before continuing “this the first time I’ve seen her approach other kids.” He smiled more genuinely this time, Minato didn’t know how to respond to that so he decided to simply stay silent.

“Naruto is a good boy, I wish for her to marry a person like him one day,” Hiashi said this when Minato was in the process of drinking from his tea, so he spat it out at the same time he started to choke with it. It took him a little time out of time

“—Wha— What are you saying!?” Minato took out his handkerchief to clean his mouth

“Nothing definite, not yet, but it may be our only option,” Minato looked for a moment at Hiashi and realized he was being completely serious, he turned and looked at Hinata who was laughing while being chased by a red-haired girl and then at Naruto who was watching the kids play with a smile of his own.

“Do you mean—” He trailed and Hiashi stood beside him looking at his daughter.

“if Danzo is planing what I think, we may have no other options,” He said, his voice almost a whisper

“We can’t really force them, you know… We can’t throw away their happiness, their freedom, four our own greed,” He grimaced when he said the last word “sorry, I know more is at risk than our money,” Hiashi nodded “but we don’t live in the Edo period anymore, these… kind of deals—”  he pinched the bridge of his nose “they aren’t done any longer”

“Youko and I were betrothed at around the time she was Hinata’s age” Minato raised his eyebrows, that was something he didn’t know of his friend. When he had met him he was already in a steady happy relationship with Honoka.

“I— I didn’t know that,” he said breathlessly “and… you, were you ok with it?” Hiashi locked eyes with him and smiled “Sorry, what a stupid question on my part.” They stayed in silence for a moment

“Naruto is way older than Hinata,” Minato said with not much conviction

“I was ten years older than Honoka, when Hinata becomes twenty he’ll be twenty-five” both men fell into another silence as they drank their tea

“I don’t feel comfortable with this,” said Minato finally

“Me neither,” said Hiashi as he saw her daughter tagging a boy with blond curly hair and laughing hysterically.

“They are too young,” said Minato

“But—” Said Hiashi

“Maybe, it won’t be necessary,” Minato drank the last of his tea “maybe we can find another way.”

“Maybe, but— even if not, I have the feeling that everything would work out somehow,” Hiashi finished his tea and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I think so,” then he smiled “It wouldn’t be bad for Naruto to have a kind and gentle wife unlike—”

“Minato!!” both men jumped a bit when they heard the voice of Kushina, they turned around to see the woman approaching them

They both laughed at her timing, Kushina started to speak so fast to Minato that he had a hard time following the conversation, so he just nodded and smiled, that always seemed to work with her, when she got bored she went to talk with the other moms gathered next to the snack table.

Both men watched Kushina talking while gesturing wildly, Minato smiled kindly at his wife while Hiashi grimaced.

“What do you say?” he turned to look at Hiashi who had a serious expression on his face his hand stretched offering him a handshake, Minato let out a long dragged out sigh, then took Hiashi’s hand and shook it

“But if they don’t agree with it we won’t force them, right?” Hiashi nodded “I mean, Kushina would murder me for that” Hiashi smirked again

“Then It’s a deal”

-=o=O=o=-

It was a few years later, or at least it felt like that for Naruto, when his mother called him to leave for home, Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he followed his parents, and like always they stopped every few seconds to say goodbye to someone, at this rate they would take even longer to finally get into the car.

At the Mansion’s front door Hinata’s dad was waiting for them, Hinata was, again, Hiding behind her father while grabbing his Yukata, Naruto rolled his eyes, this was going to take forever.

“Minato, Kushina” he smiled, then turned to Naruto “Naruto-kun” Naruto looked at the man then at his parents, they seemed odd, especially his mom, it was like she was angry but resigned at the same time.

“Hiashi, Thank you for a great evening, I’m sure Naruto enjoyed it” Naruto’s grimace grew a tad bit

“Yes, it was fun,” Naruto said stiffly, he saw Hinata hide even deeper behind her father.

“Hinata” Said Hiashi a bit sternly, Naruto heard the ring of a bell, and then Hinata appeared from behind her father.

“Na-Naruto-kun,” said Hinata while whispering the honorific “Tha— Thank you for the present I’ll treasure it forever,” Naruto smiled at Hinata whose ears became red, then she bowed deeply and extended her hand, offering him something “P-Please accept this!” Naruto extended his hand instinctively to receive what she was offering and lightly brushed Hinata hand, again a bell rang as something small and hard fell into his hand,  Naruto looked at his hand and found the silver bell from the necklace he had gifted Hinata, Naruto looked at the girl with a questioning look on his face

“Uh? This is yours—” Naruto said a little bit confused

“I— I want you to have it— so you too can do anything,” Hinata gave Naruto the brightest smile yet, and Naruto couldn't help but feel his face warm a bit, he put his hand behind his back a little bit embarrassed. He laughed nervously.

“Thank you, I guess,” Naruto tried to say this nonchalantly before pocketing the bell. The adults stared at them with weird smiles for a moment before they said their goodbyes.

It was a few minutes later, Naruto sitting in the backseat of his father’s car, he was really tired and his eyes were feeling heavier and heavier, then his father finally spoke to him.

“So, Naruto, did you have fun?” His father asked and Naruto saw her mother’s shoulders tense, he frowned.

“Eh, the cake was good,” He said, he wouldn't use the word fun to describe the time he spent in that party

“Oh, then, what do you think of Hinata-chan?” Naruto barely heard his father’s question as his eyes closed

“She is a weirdo,” Said Naruto and heard a sharp intake of air “but, she is cute and seem nice—” Naruto yawned

“I’m glad that you think like that because—“

“Dear,” Said his mom with a dangerous undertone “Don’t you think it is too soon?” Naruto was barely fighting his own drowsiness, before falling asleep the last thing he heard was his mother saying something about _it may be not being necessary._


	2. A Terrible Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, first of all, there will be no Bashing in this story (check the ending notes for more info)  
> Ririmreader hoped that Hinata will be OOC, well yes she will be OOC because she grew way different than in canon, and also because of the necklace Naruto gave her. Don’t expect RTN Hinata but also don’t expect a stuttering mess that faints when you look at her, but hopefully, you will be able to see the kind, caring and, yes, shy Hinata we all love from canon  
> MusicLoverAlways, said I should just translate Susuna’s work directly I say why I won’t do this in the end notes

Naruto was sitting on his desk, the classroom was abuzz with conversations, on his hands was a sheet of paper. And Naruto was glaring at it. It was his future plans sheet, every student needed to fill one, he had already written his career choice, _Doctor_ , with his parents owning a chain of hospitals all over the country and him actually liking the idea of saving people lives, there wasn’t really need to consider anything else.

The only problem was the middle school he was supposed to go, he didn’t really care where he went as long as he went to the same place as Sakura-chan.

The bastard could go die in a fire.

He rubbed his eyes and heard the sound of a bell tingling.

“Naruto! Have you chosen a middle school already?” Said Sakura behind him, he turned and smiled at her. The smile she returned was so bright and happy that Naruto's heart skipped a beat. But then he realized she was looking over his shoulder “Sasuke-kun!” She stood up and went to fuss over the bastard, Naruto fumed and glared at his sheet.

“Sasuke-kun, did you choose a middle school already?” Sasuke stared at Sakura for a second before turning to Naruto, he gave him an odd stare for a few seconds before speaking.

“Dad already chose St. Peter’s School in York” Sakura eyes widened and even Naruto’s head snapped up.

“Are you going overseas?” Asked Naruto and Sakura at the same time, they looked at each other, Sakura glaring at him and Naruto shrugging, Sasuke only grunted in response as he sat in the seat in front of Naruto.

It wasn’t like Naruto wanted to go to the same school as Sasuke, he didn’t really care, _really_ , But he thought that at least he would still see his friend-slash-rival from time to time.

“Sasuke…” Whispered Naruto

“Then I’ll go there too!” yelled Sakura standing up, her fists on her hips and looking down at both of them.

There was a short silence as both of them stared at Sakura

“Sakura—” Naruto started but was interrupted by Sasuke

“Sakura, not to… offend you or anything, but that school is extremely expensive, and—”

“I don’t care, I’m going for a scholarship or something, somehow I will manage!”

“Somehow or something?” whispered Naruto, but he knew she would, Sakura had the highest grades of all the school. She was also scary smart and determined.

_Damn!_

That meant Sakura was going to England, he was going to be all alone here in Tokyo.

_No way in hell_

He slammed his hands on his desk and stood up.

“Then I’m going there too!” yelled Naruto at the top of his lungs

“You are too dumb for that school,” Said Sakura while smirking

“Not with your grades idiot” Sasuke continued

“Shut up bastard, I’ll show you!” He pointed at him, but then Sasuke gave him a slight smile, and Naruto smirked back “I’ll never give up!” Naruto said this while looking at Sakura. Then Naruto closed his hand into a fist which had been pointing at Sasuke, Sasuke stared at it for a second before bumping his own fist with Naruto’s

“We’ll see about that”

-=o=O=o=-

The loud, annoying sound of the alarm clock woke up Naruto. He frowned, it had been some time since he had dreamed about his childhood. He remembered that day, Sakura determination to not be left behind by Sasuke pushed her to seek a scholarship at St. Peters’ and Naruto’s own stubbornness made him follow the two of them. He had a hard time raising his grades to St. Peter’s standards but somehow, With Sakura’s and Sasuke’s help made it.

Convincing his parents was, somehow, harder.

But they all made it and spent the next six years studying at St. Peter in England

Naruto let his hand fall on the alarm clock, and with the other, he rubbed his eyes trying to wake up, he heard a faint musical sound of a tinkling bell, he opened his eyes and found a silver bell dangling from a chain on his wrist. He smiled.

He didn’t really remember when he had gotten that bell, but every morning he rubbed his eyes he heard the bell’s sound, it was the first thing he heard and the first thing he saw.

“Ugh, Do you have to sleep with that thing on?” Said a raspy, tired voice beside him, “That sound is so annoying” a pink haired girl buried her face in her pillow as she huffed, Naruto smiled at his moody girlfriend.

“Come on Sakura-chan, It isn’t that loud, it barely makes any sound” Naruto smiled at his grumpy girlfriend, Naruto stood up and headed to the bathroom after planting a kiss on Sakura’s nape, he really didn’t want to start the day with a fight with his girlfriend.

Yes, His _girlfriend_

“At least take it off to sleep!” He heard her say, her voice muffled by the bathroom’s door, while he turned on the water waiting for it to warm up, he had lost count of the times they had had this discussion, while taking a bath he looked at the bell, he didn’t remember where had he gotten it, when he tried to recall all he could see was the foggy image of a gentle smile and a pair pearlescent eyes, but just as he tried to remember anything more his mind clouded with fogginess.

Once he was outside the bathroom already dressed for school he saw Sakura bundled in blankets with a pillow over her face

“You don’t have classes today?” he saw Sakura shake her head behind the pillow, then she removed it and stared at him

“Will you come to dinner tonight?” Naruto smiled at her

“Of Course, although Sasuke is coming ” he scratched his cheek, even after three years of dating and one of living together in some small corner of his mind he expected Sakura to tell him that she was still in love with his best friend, “Is that ok?” Sakura nodded before bundling herself in the blankets and burying her face in the pillow.

While eating his breakfast, cup ramen, and canned black tea, he thought about Sakura’s behavior the last few months, he couldn't blame her. he barely spent time with her, busy with school and his part-time job.

There had been several times he had to cancel a date or other appointments with her. But he couldn't help it, he wasn’t like her or Sasuke, that barely needed to study, he was a _little_ thick in the head and needed review a lot more than them, but winter vacation was coming up, he was almost done with his end of the year project, then he could make up for all the broken promises.

Once he finished his breakfast, he headed to the exit door and he put on his shoes.

“I’m leaving,” Naruto said

He thought he heard a _take care_ but it could have been his imagination, outside of his department he got on his car, it was a bright orange lastest model Porsche, it was his pride and joy.

While driving to university he repeated to himself how soon he would be able to give Sakura all the time she deserved, after how hard he worked for her to give him a chance, he wasn’t going to let their relationship fail.

No way in hell.

It had taken him almost all his life to convince her that he was better than Sasuke, finally, just after their high school graduation, the day they were back at Tokyo, Naruto had invited Sakura on a date, and to his surprise she accepted. He didn’t know why she had done so but he didn’t let that opportunity go to waste, Naruto did his best to show her how much he loved her.

One week later they had become official.

He still remembered Sasuke’s kind-of smile, and his mother’s and father’s grudging acceptance, he frowned, he didn’t know why his mother was, if not outright cold, distant towards the woman he loved, but Naruto guessed she was just like that, she had been the same with both Shion and Sara. Although his relationship with both girls didn’t last much once they realized how in love he was with Sakura-chan.

He loved Sakura, he felt like he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he had entertained the idea of asking her for marriage, but they were still students and it felt too soon.  He sighed as he parked his car in the school’s parking lot.

As soon as he got out of his car his cell phone started vibrating, he looked at the screen and raised his eyebrows. It was his mom’s number. He answered it while grinning widely.

“Hello, precious, does your husband know you are calling me?” Naruto’s smile disappeared when instead of hearing his mom’s scolding, he heard the deep voice of his father.

“It’s me” Naruto blushed, and he thanked God no one was around to see him, He laughed nervously.

“Hi, dad! I—” Naruto heard his father sigh. “so why do you call from mom’s phone?”

“Maybe because when I call you form mine you never answer?” he said and he could hear the smile on his face

“Ah, sorry, I been busy with school, ya know?”

“Right, well, do you think you can come home tonight for dinner” Naruto frowned, it was rare for his father to invite him to dinner and so out of the blue.

“Sorry, I have dinner planned with Sakura-chan and Sasuke, can’t it be another day?” again his father sighed, it seemed he was a bit tense.

“I see,” he coughed “has Sakura gotten better at cooking?” he asked, Naruto rubbed the back of his head and grimaced, he was entering the faculty building and a few classmates nodded at him, he returned the nod while pointing at his phone.

“No, not much, but she is doing her best!”

“Right,” then he paused for a second, “we can do it another day” Naruto was surprised his father had let it go so easily “It’s a shame all that ramen will go to waste” his father sniffed and Naruto narrowed his eyes.

_He knew exactly what the old man was trying to do_

“Ra-ramen?” he answered without thinking “Mom’s making ramen? Naruto eyes widened, his mom’s ramen was the best in the world

“Yeah, she got so excited when I told her I was inviting you to dinner that she went to buy some ingredients for pork ramen, but don’t worry, I’ll tell her you are busy or something, I’m sure she’ll understand” Naruto sighed, he knew what his dad was doing.

Despite that, it still worked.

“Well, we can’t let mom’s effort go to waste right? It would be impolite of me to turn you down, right?”

“But, don’t you have your dinner with Sakura and Sasuke?” his father asked, and Naruto could hear his repressed laughter, he gritted his teeth, the man had him in the palm of his hand.

“Yeah, No problem, if hurry up at school I can get there early and have dinner with you and be back home in time of my dinner with Sakura, I’ll even bring some leftover I’m sure they love it”

“Are you sure?” his father sounded serious for a moment “I don’t want to create more problems with you and your girlfriend”

“Yeah, don’t worry” 

“Fine, if you say so, see you tonight” and with that, his father ended up the call, Naruto pocketed his phone and headed towards his first class that day.

After a long day, Naruto was finally done with his classes, just as he was heading towards the parking lot he bumped into Sasuke

“Hey bastard!” he said cheerfully, he was coming out of the school’s library, in his arms were several books the top one was puke-green with white words _‘Concise Encyclopedia of Chemistry’_ “Studying hard?” Naruto asked, and Sasuke rolled his eyes

“Yes, Unlike you, idiot”

“Oi! Let me tell you that Kakashi-sensei said I’ve been doing better lately”

“Is that so?” Sasuke said with a tone that implied it wasn’t something to be proud of

“Yes!, anyway, are you coming tonight?”

“Is Sakura going to cook?” Naruto narrowed his eyes

“No, I’m going to my parents before, I’ll bring some ramen”

“Then yes, I’ll be there”

“That’s mean” Naruto put his hands in his pockets “Sakura, she is making an effort, ya know?”

“That’s beside the point, I don't plan to show up if she cooking, the last time I _did_ almost die” Naruto laughed nervously,

“It wasn’t her fault the clams had gone bad” He heard Sasuke let out a sigh “Okay, okay, I’ll promise she isn’t going to cook

“Then, see you tonight,” Sasuke said and continued his way towards his first class

It was several hours later that Naruto walked out of the main building a bit exhausted of all the thinking he had done that day. He walked a bit before getting in his car, just as he was getting ready drive he got a text message from Sakura-chan

_I want cake._

Naruto smiled, Sakura-chan wanted to be spoiled a bit, Naruto was more than willing to oblige. As he drove to the shopping center, he thought about Sakura-chan, he really loved her, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

 _Maybe he should propose, Was it too soon?_   They have been together three years and living together one, maybe it was time.

Naruto pulled on the mall’s parking lot, he walked around looking for a cake shop, as he walked past a plain looking jewelry shop something in the storefront caught his attention. He turned a found a small ring on display.

It was made of silver or perhaps white gold, with an intricate leaf-like pattern, on top of it it had two small pears holding up a slightly bigger sapphire, for some reason he liked it instantly, he tried to imagine it in Sakura’s hand—

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Naruto jumped a bit and turned around to see a woman with blue hair and a paper flower on it like some kind of ornament.

“Oh, the ring? I wouldn't know” he rubbed the back of his head, the woman smiled kindly, “My girlfriend says I have no taste for these kinds of things” the woman hummed and locked him with a piercing stare

“Do you want to take a closer look?” Said the woman as he beckoned him inside the, normally Naruto would have declined her, but he looked at his wristwatch, he still had some time.

“Sure,” Naruto followed the woman inside

Before he could react the woman put the ring on his hands, Naruto had the feeling he had been here before.

“Are you looking for an engagement ring?” the woman said out of the blue as Naruto inspected the ring

“No— err Maybe?” the woman gave him a kind smile,

“Well, I can assure you that the ring you have in your hands was made for the woman who would become your wife” Naruto frowned and looked at the ring again, trying to imagine it in Sakura-chan’s finger. But the pearls reminded him of something else, but he couldn't grasp it with his mind. He was frowning in concentration.

“You don’t like it?”

“uh, no, I think is perfect” Naruto thought for a moment “how much is it?” he said

The woman wrote a number in paper slip and handed it to Naruto, he raised his eyebrows a bit

“Aren’t ya missing a buncha zeros?”

“I get that every time” she smiled again

“Still, I’m not sure” Said Naruto still looking at the ring, there was something in it that made him believe what the woman had said was true, he blew out his breath, “I’ll take it” he gave the woman his credit card.

The woman took the ring and put it in a velvet case, before handing it to Naruto, the woman returned his credit card and gave him a smile.

“just remember, no matter how bleak the life gets, if you can smile, everything will be alright” Naruto frowned “Just find someone that makes you smile.”

“Right,” said Naruto a bit confused before getting out of the shop, Naruto noticed the woman followed him with her eyes.

When he arrived at his parent’s house slightly past eight he took out his phone and called Sakura

“Naruto?” said Sakura from the other side of the line “It’s late, where are you?”

“err— Sorry Sakura-chan, I’m at my parent’s they wanted to have dinner with me today—” there was no response from the other side, just a dreadful silence “I’ll go home just after eating the ramen—“ more silence “I’ll bring back some?”

“Fine.”

“Sakura-chan, are you angry?”

“No.” _she was_

“Right” Naruto said “I’ll see you later, tell Sasuke I said hello” more silence “I love you” the only answer Naruto heard was the tone that indicated the call had been ended from the other side, he let out a sigh before letting his hand rest on the Ring’s case on his pocket. Naruto smiled, everything will be alright.

Naruto opened the door to his parent's house and as he stepped inside he yelled

“Dad, Mom, I’m home!” His mom came to the foyer and hugged him tightly

“Naruto!” she kissed him on the forehead before giving him a _look_ “Have you been eating well? how’s school?”

“Yes mom, I’ve been eating well” he rolled his eyes “school is fine—“ Naruto looked over her mom’s shoulder searching for his dad “Where is dad?” his mom let Naruto go and looked uncomfortable for a moment, she opened her mouth to say something

“I’m here,” Said his dad walking down the stairs, he stopped midway and gave Naruto an up to down look “come to my studio, I need to talk to you about something,” without saying anything else he turned around and headed towards the second door to the left, Naruto raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at his mother. She smiled halfheartedly

“I’ll prepare the dinner meanwhile,” his mother left to the kitchen leaving Naruto alone in the foyer he shrugged and headed towards his father’s studio, when Naruto opened the door he found his father’s staring out to the horizon through the large window on the wall, his hands behind his back and his shoulders tense. He turned his head and smiled at him.

“How’s school?” he said

“Fine, I’ve had to take a few extra classes to keep up, but everything is going according to schedule, I’ll graduate next year,” said Naruto, not really liking the serious expression his father was giving him.

“That’s good, that means you will be able to join the hospital once you graduate” his father smiled but there was some strain on his eyes, Naruto nodded, ever since little he had always wanted to help his dad with the family business

“yes, that’s something I have wanted since I was little”

“Unfortunately, there is a chance that by next year the Hospitals will no longer be under our family control” Minato let out a sigh and sat in his chair and motioned Naruto to do the same, he complied.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember Shimura Danzo?” Naruto frowned and rubbed his eyes trying to remember, he had met him years ago, he was a frail-looking man who usually had his arm bandaged and walked with a cane. He wasn’t a pleasant person, not even Sakura had liked him.

“Yeah” Naruto grimaced,

“He is a very wealthy man, he owns several companies Including Shimura Shipping, years ago he started buying shares from our company trying to get a vote in the council, he somehow managed to snag a considerable percentage of shares and got his vote” his dad poured himself a glass of sake before continuning, Naruto’s eyebrows arched, he almost never had seen his father drink alcohol “Normally I woulnd’t care if someone got a vote in the counucil, but—“ he locked Naruto with his eyes “you meet him, right?” Naruto nodded “I fear that he is _only_ in this for the money, if he were to grab control of the council, he could very well end all the charity programs we have fought to set up”

“But… there is nothing you can do?” his father closed his eyes for a moment and let out a shaky breath before opening them again and staring at Naruto

“Yes, there is” His father stayed silent for longer than necessary, this made Naruto nervous and just when he was about to say something his father spoke “That’s why I asked you to come today, I… We need your help”

“Me?... what could I possibly do?” his father’s shoulders sagged as he took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a beat before staring back at him.

“You Know Hyuga Hiashi?” Naruto nodded a bit confused not knowing where his father was going with this “He and I own sixty percent of the company, and if we were to join our shares, Danzo couldn't do anything without our approval”

“It seems like a good idea, I’m not sure how could I help you”

“Well, Hiashi is not willing to give up his shares, at the same time I wouldn't give up mine.” His father stayed silent for a second “but for the sake of the charities and all the people working for us our shares need to be joined”

“I still don’t see how could I help you—”

“There is a way,” Naruto nodded putting all his attention on his father “There is a way for the two families assets to become one, that’s why I need your and Hiashi’s Daugther help” Naruto frowned still confused

“I don’t understand” 

“Marriage”

The phrase ‘you could have heard a pin drop’ instantly made sense for Naruto, he opened his mouth to say something but no words came out

“You see, ten years ago Hiashi proposed an arranged marriage, Initially I declined but eventually with Danzo’s actions I had to accept” Naruto’s mind was completely blank trying to understand what his father was saying when his father saw Naruto’s confused expression he continued “Hyuga Hinata has been your fiance since you were eleven”

“What?”

“If you two get married the families’ fortunes would become one and save our—”

“This gotta be a joke, right?” his father just stared at him his face grim “Are you asking me to marry a complete stranger?”

“I know it must be difficult but—”

“Difficult!? It’s impossible! I have Sakura… I’m going to propose to her” Naruto retrieved the ring case from his jacket and showed it to his dad, his dad seemed unimpressed

“Son, I— I think Sakura is not—” Naruto slammed his hand on his father desk making a booming sound

“Don’t you dare speak ill of the woman I love” Naruto yelled, his father jumped from his seat and slammed his hands on the desk too

“Don’t speak to me like that, when will you realize that Sakura is not good for you?!” Naruto narrowed his eyes

“You don’t get to decide that!” Naruto snarled at his father, only the respect he had for the man stopped him from punching him

“Son, Hinata is a good girl, better for you, for our family, just meet her once—”

“Shut up! I’m not meeting her” Naruto turned around going for the office’s exit he slammed open the door and found his mother there her eyes wide looking at him

“Did you know about this?” her mother nodded closing her eyes with a pained expression.

“I was the one who told your father not to say anything about it, I thought it wouldn't be necessary”

“That’s why you never liked Sakura or Shion or Sara” Naruto looked at his mother down his nose with as much contempt as he could muster “I am disappointed” before Naruto could realize it he was already in his car speeding through the highway. He didn’t know how long he had been driving before he finally stopped at a secluded section of the road. He got down from his car and walked towards the edge of the cliff, put his hands on the railing and looked at the city below.

He couldn’t believe it, did his parents think this was the damn Edo period? Did they think his own opinion or his feelings didn’t matter? He gripped the railing hard until his knuckles became white and his fingers started to hurt, the scowl on his face could turn anyone to stone.

He took a deep, _really deep_ , breath and slowly but steadily let the air out of by his mouth, he eased his grip on the rail, then put both his hands in his face and rubbed his eyes in exasperation.

When his hands rested by his side he felt something on his left pocket, he retrieved it.

It was the velvet case containing the engagement ring he had brought from the strange woman at the mall. Naruto stared at it for a moment watching how the pearls reflected the moonlight and the blue sapphire reflected the little light around him.

Now that he had a chance to look at it, he saw it was a little bit too small for Sakura.

But it didn’t matter, he would send it for adjustment if it was necessary, the point was that he and Sakura wouldn’t be separated by his parents, no matter how much he loved his family, or how much he really wanted to help his father with the hospital, he knew that his own happiness was much more important. That moment Naruto’s resolve hardened, he was going to propose to Sakura that night. His stomach grumbled and he chuckled.

Finally, the last tension he had been feeling was eased.

He hopped on his car and drove towards the city, he had to buy flowers and some syrup coated Dango, to add to the cake he had already bought. And with how hungry he was, Sakura’s food would probably taste delicious, that would make her happy.

When he reached his apartment building, which was fifteen floors tall and in one of the nicest neighborhoods, very close to Tokyo commercial center and a few minutes drive from his university.

Outside, in the parking lot for visitors, was Sasuke’s Black sedan, he always thought that he was too serious and he should have bought a sports car like him. But the serious car did fit Sauske personality, in a way.

He stealthy entered his apartment, he wanted to surprise Sakura, as soon as he entered the living room he knew something wasn’t right, there were two cooling coffee cups resting in the table and a packet of half-eaten syrup covered dango, Naruto narrowed his eyes. His ears caught a faint sound and Naruto held his breath trying to hear it clearly.

It sounded like someone sobbing and it seemed to come from his bedroom.

As he got closer Naruto felt a chill travel through his spine, and his stomach do a somersault as he recognized the sound.

It was moaning.

As he got closer and closer his mind worked hard trying to explain these sounds, not wanting to believe— but these explanations died the moment he opened the door.

Right there on his bed… on their bed, on the bed they had shared for more than a year, his girlfriend, Sakura, the woman he had chosen to marry was completely naked gripping the bedsheet her body covered in sweat, her face flushed and her eyes were closed shut while his best friend the man he considered his brother in all but blood was thrusting into her, he was grunting while Sakura begged for more, from her mouth came Sasuke’s name again and again like it was the most natural thing in the world.

All the while Naruto’s world shattered all around him. His mind tried to deny what he was seeing but it was impossible. Something snapped inside him. Fury and pain like no other filled every cell of his body and before he could stop himself Naruto slammed the door open.

The moaning stopped, the grunting too, for a moment the echo of the wooden door on the concrete wall was the only sound that could be heard.

Naruto almost laughed at Sakura’s and Sasuke’s faces, they looked like a pair of deer in headlights. But the humor was quickly consumed by the flames of rage.

Sasuke quickly got up and started to put on his pants in a hurry while Sakura warped herself on the blanket, Naruto felt a small pain in his palm, he was closing them so hard that there was a small strand of blood coming from each of them. Sakura meanwhile looked scared and her body trembled, but she still stood up and walked towards Naruto.

“Na- Naruto, I— I Can explain,” she said reaching towards him, but Naruto slapped the hand away, hard, Sakura gasped more in surprise than in pain.

“Oh, you can explain!?” Naruto gave her a nasty smirk, Sakura was rubbing the hand Naruto had just slapped “I would love to see you do that, or what? Do you need more time to finish?”

“Naruto—” before Sakura could continue Sasuke appeared behind her, his shirt already buttoned up

“Naruto, Listen— I… We… didn’t really want to—” he was interrupted by Naruto’s fist hitting him right in the chin, Sasuke fell backward and his head hit the wooden floor with a loud thud.

“You didn’t really want to?” Naruto snarled, his fist was covered in blood, his own. “from what It looked like you two seemed to be enjoying it a lot!” Sasuke was on the floor glaring at Naruto, he was rubbing his chin as it started to swell

“I— You were like my brother, how could you do this to me!?” Naruto yelled stepping away from Sakura who was trying to get close to him, he glared at her and she backed down.

“Naruto— I’m sorry,” said Sasuke

“Oh, you are sorry? Do you think this is something you can fix with a ‘ _yeah sorry’?”_ Naruto stared at Sasuke who hadn't looked at him in the eye since he punched him, Naruto shook his head

“I don’t want to see either of you ever again” and with that Naruto turned and walked out of his bedroom and into the living room, he could hear Sakura footsteps behind him but ignored it, he wanted to get away from all this as fast as possible.

“Naruto, wait!” Naruto ignored her and continued towards the front door, he felt her hand on his shoulder, he violently shook her away but stopped and glared at her “Listen to me, please! I was lonely! You were never home! It’s always school—”

“You were lonely?” Naruto slowly shook his head “and the best you could think about it was to fuck my best friend instead of talking to me?” Sakura cringed a bit “God and I thought you were smart!”

“Naruto, please, Let’s talk” Sakura eyes filled with tears but Naruto didn’t feel anything only a void in his chest, he got close to her until his face was a few inches from her, Sakura flinched when she saw Naruto normally warm blue eyes looking as cold and uncaring as a pair of icebergs.

“Get out of my house” hissed Naruto, “when I get back I don’t want to find you or anything yours here” with that he turned around a and walked to the parking lot he finally allowed his tears to flow and as he got on his car he could hear Sakura desperate cries for him.

He drowned them as he revved up his car’s motor, the next instant he was speeding thought Tokyo’s streets.

He drove for God knows how long until he ended in a red light district God knows where. He found a decent looking bar and got inside. He started to drink as he looked at the people around him, couples doing couples things, men trying to pick up women, one or two loners that, like himself, were probably there to drown their sorrows.

He drank one shot of sake or tequila or whatever tickled his fancy, his vision slowly blurred and his movement became slower then suddenly he opened his eyes. He felt as his head had been split in two he was resting in a hard and cold surface and the ceiling was gray with a single light, he tried to sit down but the pain in his head made his stomach lurch so he decided to lay down for the moment.

He looked slightly to the left and saw a row of bars.

Fantastic!

He was in jail

“Uzumaki Naruto,” said a gruff voice, Naruto saw who he thought was the warden a pot-bellied man with a balding head “You can go” he opened the cell while Naruto forced himself to sit up

“What?” the warden let out an exasperated sigh

“Yes, someone paid your bail” the warden helped Naruto stand and walked him to the waiting room he gave him his belongings, his wallet and his cellphone and the keys of his car

“Who paid my bail?” Naruto asked the warden opened his mouth

“Me” Naruto wondered how someone could sound so bored and apathetic by only saying a one syllable word  “What a fucking drag, I warn you, you are going to pay me double the amount, coming all the way here is such a pain the ass”

“Shikamaru?” Naruto was a little bit confused “How—”

“How else? You called me! Why didn’t you call Sasuke or Sakura?” Shikamaru stared for a moment at Naruto face and he must have seen something “What drag…”

“You know what, just shut up and let me take you to your apartment, you need a bath you smell like a fucking hobo” Naruto was thankful that Shikamaru didn’t ask him any questions on the drive to his home. When they finally arrived Naruto heart dropped to his feet.

If she was still there he didn’t know how would he react.

When he finally entered his home he found that Sakura had done was he had told her, there was no trace of her, all her clothes weren’t on the closet, the tea set her mother had given her when they moved wasn’t in the cupboard even her toothbrush was missing.

It was as if she had never been there.

Naruto finally dropped into his sofa and let his feelings out, he cried and cried until the tears stopped coming. He didn’t know how long he cried but when he finally was able to stop it was already night. He stood up and went to the bedroom he noted that Sakura had made the bed.

A bitter laugh escaped his lips, _as if he could forget_ , he shook his head and entered the bathroom when he removed his pants he took his wallet and the ring he had brought for Sakura, for a moment he considered flushing down the toilet but then remembered the words the woman had said

“You were wrong lady”

He took a long bath with water as hot as he could, his mind empty trying to keep away the painful memories from hurting him again. He kept staring at the ring, and at the two beautiful pearls surrounding the blue jewel. Something about them eased the pain of his chest if a little bit.

After his bath Naruto took a blanket from a drawer and an old ratty pillow he and Sakura were about to throw out, he closed his bedroom’s door, he threw himself on his ouch and tried to sleep. He thought he would have difficulty sleeping but he was soo tired both emotionally and physically at he was asleep before he realized it.

 

During the next two weeks Naruto became what the media called a “shut-in”, he didn’t go out of his apartment, and as trash piled up all around him, his life became that of a body that slept, ate and sometimes cleaned himself. He really didn’t want to go out, and if tomorrow he died he would be quite happy and he had no intention fo meeting with neither Sakura or Sasuke.

Sasuke had tried to call him several times but stopped soon afterward, Sakura, on the other hand, continued until he disconnected all the land phones and shoved them under the sink. He didn’t even charge his phone and he certainly didn’t answer his door.

He didn’t want to hear their excuses, he just wanted to die already.

One night while he was watching the tv without actually watching it he heard his front door open with a  click, he frowned, if it was Sakura…

“Honey are you home?” it was his mother, Naruto shoulders relaxed and he continued to stare at the tv “Oh there you are! You know how worried we have been! Your father has been trying to contact you for the past two weeks!”

“Naruto… are you ok?” the concern on his father’s voice was palpable “What happened to the phones?”

“I got rid of them, I wanted some time alone,” he said with a monotonous tone, Naruto saw how his mother gave his father a worried glance, his father nodded at her and then he sat in front of Naruto as he turned off the TV

“Listen, son,” His father said with a slow and calm tone “I know you must be upset, and you are right to be” the words meant a lot more to Naruto than what his father thought

“We are sorry, Naruto—” Naruto frowned, why were they apologizing, they hadn’t done anything wrong it had been Sakura and Sasuke “—we should have told you earlier about your arranged marriage to Hyuga Hinata”

Naruto blinked twice. What. Then he remembered that that night he had fought with his parents about his arranged marriage to a girl he had never met.

He started to laugh

How stupid had he been defending Sakura in front of his parents only to have his heart ripped from his chest, trampled and thrown into the trash, he saw his parent's concerned looks, he willed himself to get under control.

He grinned at them, trying to ease their worries

“Sorry I just remembered something really stupid”

“Naruto—”

“I want to meet her,” both of their parents stared at him in confusion “the girl, my fiance, I want to meet her”

“What about Sakura?” said his mother

“Don’t worry about her, we broke up” he heard his mother gasp as her hand went to her mouth, and his father grimace.

“It— was it because of the engagement?” Naruto shook his head

“No. don’t worry about her”

“Naruto you don’t need to—”

“I said I want to meet her ok? Isn’t it what you wanted? Well… there you are! you can save the company and you can help me to forget—” Naruto stopped himself before he slipped up the beans, he crossed his arms and glared at his father, his father glared back for a moment before letting out a tired sigh

“Right, what do you think about this Friday, I know this Italian restaurant I have wanted to show you anyway”

“Perfect” Naruto stood up “Now if you excuse me I need to sleep”

“But—” said His mother, His father took her from the hand and walked her to the door

“You heard him, dear, he needs to sleep” just before opening the door his father turned to Naruto to tell him something, he hesitated for a second “Good night” Naruto nodded at his father as he got out if his home and closed the door behind him with his mother in tow.

Naruto threw himself into the couch, at least something good would come out of this, then he laughed at the irony of it, he had just ended a three years relationship with a girl he had been in love since he could remember and not two weeks later he already had a fiance.

“Hyuga Hinata,” he whispered, he wondered what kind of girl she was… It didn’t really matter as long she was completely different than Sakura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok first of all I DON’T HATE Sakura, I actually like her as a character, this isn’t a bashing story and what she did in this chapter, while terrible, has a backstory I will reveal in a later chapter, no, it won’t justify what she did (there is nothing that can justify cheating) she fucked up royally but there was a reason behind it and it definitely will not be “Sakura is a slut” or the like  
> This is why this story is not a direct translation from Susuna’s work and more like an adaptation, she wrote Sakura as your average soap opera villain and the other antagonist was also really cliched plus her last story arc felt like it came directly from a Telenovela


	3. A Hurtful Accusation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this chapter is a little bit shorter (actually chapter two is a little bit too long for my tastes but whatever) but I hope you enjoy it, this is told from Hinata’s POV and we can see a bit the effect Naruto had on her with his gift,   
> Also this the last of the chapters that I had already written so expect updates to come slower now, also I see if I can update my other stories.   
> As for the source material of this story this chapter is all original from me.

“S-stop” Hinata whispered but Toneri, sitting beside her, didn’t seem to hear. He was kissing her neck while holding both her hands over her lap, a small shiver ran up her spine as he traced his lips along her neckline.

They were sitting over a blanket laid in the overgrown ground in a secluded part of the woods, they had been in a normal picnic date until a few moments ago, Toneri had sat beside her, his hips touchings hers when he started holding her hand, he leaned his head on her shoulder, and when Hinata turned to look at him he planted a soft kiss on her lips.

“Hinata” Toneri whispered in her ear, his breathing heavy and eyes unfocused, she could feel his body shaking “I love you,” Hinata’s heart fluttered and she felt a small smile set on her face, but she couldn't say the same words back, maybe it was her own shyness, so she kissed him lightly on the lips.

It was a chaste kiss, her lips barely grazed his, but Toneri put his hand on the back of her head, bent it and opened his mouth. Hinata hesitantly reciprocated, she thought it was a nice kiss, even as she felt Toneri’s tongue invade her, He started to unbutton her shirt, Hinata held his hand trying to stop him, but when he locked eyes with her she let her hand fall to the side, in short order her chest was completely exposed, only covered by her indigo colored bra, Hinata’s face turned even redder and she fought the urge to cover herself.

For Hinata, the situation didn’t feel right, But Toneri was her boyfriend, they been together for years, she knew he had wanted to take the next step, she knew it was normal, all her classmates had already done it with their boyfriends, she knew it was strange for a sixteen-year-old to still be a virgin –at least that’s what her classmates said— even more so if the girl in question had an attractive boyfriend she loved.

Something in the back of her mind, a small voice, said to her that it was too soon, that they where too young, and that maybe she didn’t— Toneri completely removed her shirt and he stared at her chest, he licked his lips as his face flushed, Hinata crossed her hands over her bosom trying to cover herself.

“D-Don’t stare,” she said, Toneri’s eyes snapped to Hinata’s with a chastised expression.

“I’m sorry” He planted another light kiss on her mouth as he warped his arms around her, then his cold fingers traced the small of her back, another shiver traveled over all of her body, his hand ran up her back slowly until it reached her bra’s strap, to Hinata’s surprise he skillfully undid it with a snap of his fingers, she felt her face warm up as a small gasp escaped her mouth, Toneri hugged her tighter, and the world around her started to spin when she felt his body heat and the beating of his heart. His smell, a fruity essence; his cologne probably, filled her lungs and she timidly hugged him back, warping her arms around his body.

Toneri laid her down until she was with her back on the blanket, with his right arm he slowly traced her tight, up under her skirt, until his finger grazed panties, Hinata’s heart started beating faster and faster, and her respiration grew more agitated until she was sure he could hear her heartbeat.

His smile was haughty as he started pulling them down.

 _It was the natural next step in their relationship_ , she thought to herself, and she did love him, when Hinata’s Panties where on her ankles, Toneri, with his knees on the sides of Hinata’s hips, in a rather frantic manner started to undo his belt, his breathing heavy and his eyes filled with lust.

She didn’t like those eyes.

She opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she heard her phone’s ringtone. Toneri froze in place staring at Hinata, and Hinata stared back, her eyes wides as the song ROCKS played on Hinata’s phone.

“Don’t answer” he said his voice strained as if he was forcing himself to remain calm, but Hinata was already checking the caller’s Id, feeling relief that they had stopped. It was Neji-niisan, she looked at Toneri and he narrowed his eyes.

“It’s Neji-niisan,” said Hinata, Toneri buffed and stood up stepping away kicking gravel with each step, Hinata stared at his back, confused, before she answered the phone

“Neji-niisan?” he said trying to steady her voice at the same time she pulled up her panties, her face reddened even more imagining what would Nejii would think if she could see her.

“Where are you?” said the cold voice of her cousin, he seemed agitated, Hinata frowned as she stared at Toneri leaning on a tree and _glaring_ at her.

“On a date with Toneri-kun,” Hinata said and she could practically hear Neji-niisan's frown, he didn’t like Toneri, Hinata thought it was just his overprotectiveness of her but sometimes she wondered if there was something he saw that Hinata didn’t

“Well, the date is over, uncle Hiashi wants you home, now.” Hinata’s eyebrows knitted together “He has something to tell you, I think it may be very important,” Hinata sighed both in exasperation and relief, she was frustrated that her father had interrupted her date, relief because she would have time to unravel her feelings about what almost had happened.

“I’ll be there” there was no answer as Neji-niisan ended the call.

Hinata turned to tell Toneri that she needed to get home, but when she saw his face she flinched, he was glaring at her, his arms crossed over his chest, his face red and his body shaking not of nervousness but repressed fury.

“Again?” he said harshly, Hinata ducked her head, her shoulders slumping as he stared at her.

“So-sorry…” she said

“Why? Why everytime we are together he always interrupts?” Hinata frowned what was he getting at it’s not like Neji-niisan had a way to watch over her all the time.

“Toneri—”

“Shut up!” He yelled and Hinata cringed “I’m sick of this! I need to be your priority!”

“Father—"

 “I don’ want to hear your excuses!” he yelled and Hinata took a step back, he was scaring her, I’m sure of it now! I didn’t want to believe it, the rumor must be true then,” Hinata’s eyes widened as Toneri normally gentle face distorted in a grotesque mask of rage.

“What do you—”

“You are fuckin your cousin!” Hinata felt as if someone dropped her into ice cold water, her mouth gaped and her skin paled, she felt as if all the blood of her body went to her feet “I should have known, you are way too close to him and, he is way too overprotective—”

“How— HOW YOU DARE THINK THAT!” Hinata _yelled_. In her whole life, she had never raised her voice that high, Toneri stepped back as his eyes widened, Hinata glared at him standing in the middle of the woods only wearing her skirt and bra, she didn’t even care that it was open and she had to keep it up with her left hand.

She took two long strides and without missing a beat, she twisted her hips putting all her strength on her upper body and slapped Toneri on the face, the sound echoed on the emptiness of the forest as her hand started to sting, on his face her hand was imprinted in vivid red contrasting with his pale skin. Hinata’s hand hurt but her chest hurt even more.

She turned around as she strapped her bra grabbed her shirt and put it on, as she buttoned it she could hear Toneri say something

“What?” she snapped and turned as she completely buttoned up her shirt and put on her school jacket

“I said ‘why does he always interrupt us on our dates, why does he hate me? I’m sure of it you two are fucking behind my back”

“How can you believe that? It’s revolting to even think that! Toneri, Neji-niisan is my brother in all but blood, we grew up together, And you know this!” she pointed a finger at him, Toneri just looked at her and scoffed

Hinata eyes filled with tears as something cold gripped her heart… where was the boy she had fallen in love with, the gentle, silent and attentive boy she met that many years ago, who was this stupid brute who would even consider that she would make such indecent act with Neji-niisan?

“I don’t know you” she whispered

“Well, why don’t you go with Neji? I’m sure you know him pretty well” the implication made Hinata’s eyes water as she felt another stab in her chest.

“We— We are over” She saw how Toneri’s shoulders tensed and his eyes widened, “I don’t want to— I don’t want to see you again, ever”

She turned and grabbed her bag and started walking out of the clearing, she distantly heard Toneri say something maybe _wait I’m sorry_ but she didn’t care, she didn’t want to see his face, she didn’t want to hear his excuses may her heart waver, she wanted to get away from him as soon as possible, On her way out of the woods she sent a LINE message to Neji-niisan, hoping he could pick her up.

Not ten minutes later she was on Neji-niisan's land rover being driven home, there was an awkward silence that started the moment Neji-niisan set his eyes on her, he hadn’t said a word to her, it wasn’t until halfway to her home; when they stopped at a red light that Neji spoke.

“Are you ok?” the concern on his voice made Hinata want to smile, she nodded not trusting her voice. “Did that bastard do something to you?” she saw how Neji-niisan griped the steering wheel, Hinata shook her head but Neji didn’t seem to see her “because if he did I’m going to murder him, slowly”

“No—” she chocked “No, we— he said something very stupid and we had a fight, and… we broke up” Neji stared at her boring into her eyes then nodded and continued driving. For several minutes the awkward silence continued

“You were crying,” It wasn’t a question, they pulled in front oh the Hyuga mansion, Hinata stiffened her shoulders

“I was very upset” she answered, Neji got down and opened Hinata’s door

“That’s alright,” He said “but there are twigs on your hair” Hinata’s blushed again and her hand instinctively went to her head, there was nothing there, she glared at Neji and Neji glared back.

“Did he—”

“No” she said defiantly

“Fine, promise me that if he— anyone ever hurts you, you _will_ tell me” Hinata let out a sigh she knew he was going to be stubborn about this, so she raised her hand and offered her pinky to Neji, he rolled his eyes but linked his pinky with hers,

“It’s a promise”

“That’s enough for me,” He finally smiled “You better brush your hair before you met with uncle Hisashi, _it is a mess”_ Hinata cheeks pinked a bit before she walked into her house with Neji trailing behind her.

OoOoO

Toneri watched as Hinata disappeared, his heart twisted with pain as he realized what he just had said. he called her but she either didn’t hear him or just ignored him, the result was the same.

He was alone, in the middle the forest, and extremely _frustrated_.

Why had he said that?! It was those rumors’ fault! If he hadn’t heard them he wouldn't doubt her, something like that would never have crossed his mind.

Or maybe it was Neji’s fault, He never liked Toneri, he always was hostile whenever he was visiting, even more so than Hyuga Hiashi, he didn’t know who was scarier though.

It was Hinata’s fault she should prioritize him above her cousin, she shouldn’t have answered her phone! Not when they were about to do it!

No, he couldn’t blame any of them as much as he wanted to shift the responsibility, no one else was at fault but him. He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation as he exhaled shakily.

He regretted it, the moment the accusation came out of his mouth – even if the rumor was true – when he saw Hinata’s reaction, but his own hardheadedness made him press the point hurting the girl he loved.

But she should have understood! She should—

“I really fucked up” he whispered

They had been dating for about a year and he was eager to be closer to her, to take the next step, not in small part because he thought she was hot, he wanted to have his first time with her. And even if he wouldn’t admit it he was thrilled knowing he would take her first time.

It was supposed to be their special moment, after the last two times they almost did it, but they always got interrupted by her cousin. The bastard. He needed to talk to Hinata, it hadn’t been more than five minutes since she had left so he started running to her.

Unfortunately, he was late, he was able to see as Hinata got into Neji’s land rover when Neji closed the door he turned towards Toneri stared at him for a moment before climbing into his car and driving away

Toneri Narrowed his eyes as he stood at the edge of the forest and saw how Hinata left with Neji.

_It must be true then._

OoOoO

After Hinata had a chance to brush her hair she headed to her father’s studio, she stood in front of the oaken door and knocked twice, a moment later she heard father’s voice and slowly opened the door to find her father sitting on his desk reading some documents, he seemed distracted and didn’t look up from the documents, Hinata approached the ornate desk in the middle of the office and stood there until her father looked up.

Even after so many years her father’s stern stare always made her nervous, but she steeled her will and bowed to him respectfully

“Father”

“Sit down,” he said, Hinata did and put her hands on her lap, her father stared for a long moment making her start to fidget. “Everyday…  you remind more and more of your mother”

Hinata was taken aback, Her father rarely mentioned her mother, to the point that all she knew about her – apart from what she remembered herself – were the stories that Kushina had told her when she visited.

“You know, I met your mother when she was fifteen years old I was already twenty-five” Hinata knew his father was older than her mother by a decade but he had never heard the story of how they met. She  had always to know but Kushina always said that it was better if the one that told that story was her father “but I knew about her since I was ten” Her father took a deep breath and  interlaced his finger in front of him and gave Hinata a weak smile, Hinata frowned at the revelation.

“We were promised in an arranged marriage” Hinata couldn't hide her surprise and his father smiled at her a sad smile, “at first when I learned about the engagement I was furious, I didn’t want your grandfather to decide my life, I was ready to rebel… but well it was another time and your grandfather didn’t leave me any choice but to meet her” his father grabbed a photo frame that she knew held a photo of her mom holding Hanabi while Hinata stood beside her, it was taken at the hospital and it was the last photo that was taken of her mother, he stared sadly at the photo for a moment before locking eyes with her

“I won’t lie to you Hinata, our company is in grave danger, a man named Danzo is trying to gain control of the board of directors and there is nothing we can do to stop him” Hinata felt confused with the sharp shift in topic

“I— I don’t understand father”

“Well, there is  a way to stop the man from gaining control of the company, the other main shareholder is an old friend of mine and years ago we devised a plan to join our holdings on the company to stop Danzo”

Hinata felt like she knew where this was going but she didn’t like it, she didn’t like it at all

“Hinata, I promised you to mary Minato’s son if our other plans to failed” Hinata shoulders stiffened and her hands gripped the hem of her blouse tightly until her knuckles became white, her father let out a tired sigh and rubbed his eyes with one hand

“Hinata, you know I love you” Hinata’s shoulders relaxed just a little bit at the same time her eyes widened, she knew it but it was the first time her father vocalized his feelings “I would never force you to do something you don’t want… and … I know that you— enjoy that boy’s company” the last words her father said sounded forced and his face looked like he had eaten something that disagreed with him. It made Hinata almost laugh. “but—”

“I— Toneri and I just broke up” to her father favor he didn’t immediately start jumping of joy, he simply stared at her his face an impassive mask

“I… I see” he recovered himself “I’m sorry…” even if he wasn’t, Hinata felt a little bit warm that her father felt the need to save her feelings

“Father,” she said and her father locked her with a neutral stare “I— Don’t want… you to decide my future” she said returning his words back to him

“And I don’t want you to force you to do anything you don’t want… your happiness is more important to me than anything” he rubbed his eyes again and Hinata realized for the first time that her father looked extremely tired, there were bags under his eyes and his long brown hair had a few strands of grey she had never noticed before. “I’m only asking for you to meet him again”

“Again?” Her father blinked at her, his expression confused

“You meet Naruto before, many years ago, he came to your sixth birthday party and gave you that necklace bell you wore up until you entered high school”

“Naruto-kun” she whispered and her hand traveling to her neckline not finding the necklace she had worn until she started dating Toneri, she remembered the boy he had lied to her, telling her that the bell was magical, at first she believed it was magical and thanks to that she was able to break out of her shell a little bit and make friends, later when she grew up she realized it had been a placebo effect all that time, Like Dumbo's magic feather she let a smile creep on her face.

But still, she had just broken up with her boyfriend and it wouldn't feel right to go and meet another boy the day after she and Toneri had broken up.

“I’ll think about it” she heard herself say before she could stop

“That’s enough for me” her father answered as his shoulders seemed to relax as if a huge burden had been lifted from them.

Later that night after taking a long warm bath Hinata opened her dresser and retrieved the necklace Naruto-kun had gifted her that many years ago, she shook the bell and smiled at the melodious ring it produced.

OoOoO

Hinata never thought she would be angrier than yesterday. The fact that Toneri was, again, responsible for her temper made things even worse.

That day she had woken like every other day, and after a quick shower, she got ready for school, Neji-niisan took her to school and she greeted her friends on her way to her classroom, fortunately, she didn’t share the same class group with her ex-boyfriend, it wasn’t until lunch break that he finally saw him. Hinata didn’t know how to feel at first, her heart fluttered at first until she remembered the hurtful words he had said before, so she tried to ingonre him while she ate her lunch and talked with Tenten, it wasn’t until half way the launch break time that Hinata’s blood started to boil, Midori, a blondee girl from Toneri’s class who was Hinata self proclaimed rival, whatever that meant, sat on Toneri’s lap and warped her arms around his neck, he smiled at her while stealing glances at Hinata, she wasn’t jealous— well maybe a little, but more than that she was furious, they had broken up less than a day ago and he already had girls fawning all over him, Hinata eye twitched as Midori started whispering something to Toneri’s ear, and he dared to stare directly at Hinata with a stupid smirk on his face.

“Hinata?” Said Tenten with a concerned expression on her face “Did something happen between you and Toneri?” Hinata stared at her friend her shoulders stiffened.

Tenten had been her friend since elementary school, her confident and straightforward personality went well with Hinata’s reserved and shy one, she always said that it was the main reason their friendship had lasted so long, the second one was Tenten’s crush on Neji-niisan even though he was way older than her. Hinata was sure he saw Tenten as not more than His little sister best friend.

“We broke up” Tenten eyes widened and slapped Hinata on the shoulder “Ouch!”

“Why I’m hearing from this just now?!” Tenten yelled making several heads turn towards their table, Hinata wanted the ground to swallow her whole. “What do you mean you broke up?” she said trying to keep her voice as low as possible

“He…” He considered telling her what Toneri had said but Hinata knew how her friend would react to _that_ “He said something very stupid” she finished lamely “We had a huge fight and I decided to end it there” Hinata knew that that explanation wouldn’t be enough to sate Tenten’s curiosity but she had always been terrible at lying or keeping secrets from those who she cared.

Not that she wouldn’t try

After ten minutes of prodding from Tenten, Hinata finally explained what had been said between Her and Toneri in the forest. It took all of Hinata’s strength, which was considerable because she did gymnastics at an almost professional level, to stop her friend from going to Toneri’s table and _‘kicking his ass’_ as her friend so eloquently put it.

Not that Hinata didn’t want to see that, she didn’t want Tenten to get into trouble for her sake.

To be honest, Hinata didn’t really care who Toneri dated, _she didn’t really care_ , but the next day Shiho was all over him and the next day he was making out with Mina from class C in front of the school gates while Hinata waited for Neji-niisan to pick her up. She fell embarrassed for him making such display in public.

Hinata realized that he was trying to make her jealous, she almost laughed out loud, when she realized how petty and childish he was being she was tempted to unleash Tenten on him, but she restrained herself she wouldn’t let him know how much it really hurt her.

That was the reason that during a dinner later that day with her family that she cleared her throat,  Hanabi sitting beside her turned at her looking concerned and her father stopped eating to put all his attention on Hinata, Hinata gripped the hem of her cardigan and looked at her lap.

“Father, I w-want to meet my fiance,” there was sudden heavy silence, the clatter of silverware stopped as did the casual conversation Neji-niisan was having with her father.

The first to react was her father with a nod and an “Understood” he simply continued eating. Then Neji-niisan who calmly put his fork and knife beside his plate and opened his mouth— only to be interrupted by Hanabi slamming her hands on the table, making all the plates quaver.

“Fi-Fi-Fiance!?” Hanabi yelled her hands gripping the tablecloth “What is the meaning of this, why haven’t I heard of this!” she turned to stare at Hinata her eyes wide “Neesama! Is too young to marry! She is only sixteen!” when Hanabi looked at her father she seemed to shrink instantly as she realized the scene she was making, that and his father glare could freeze hell itself. She sat in a swift movement, put her hands on her lap and stared at her whitening knuckles

“Neesama is … too – good—”

“Hanabi,” said her father with a dangerous tone, Hanabi ducked her head even more as her shoulders slumped.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, her father nodded at Hanabi and turned to look at Hinata

“Hinata, When do you want to meet Uzumaki Naruto?” Hinata saw how Neji-niisan’s left eye twitched and a frown distorted Hanabi elegant features, Hinata Ignored them both and fixed her eyes on her father

“Any time is fine,” she said, her father nodded

“I think I can arrange something with Minato and Kushina”

 

Later that night when Hinata was about to go to sleep, after an interrogation session with Hanabi, Hinata stood in front of the large wall mirror on her bedroom, in her hand she had the necklace with the single bell she had received as a gift years ago. She stared at herself and noted how her face resembled her mother’s, as did her body warped in her lavender pajama,

“Where you happy?” she whispered and smiled at the memory of her

then nodding to herself as if she had reached a conclusion she put on the necklace around her neck and jumped into her bed, burying her face in the pillow.

“Naruto-kun what kind of man are you?”

 


	4. An Unconfortable Reunion

Naruto lay on his livingroom’s couch, his knees on his chest and his arms around his legs, he was staring at the flatscreen in front of him, the words from the news anchor coming as a string of uncompressible blabbering, his mind blank, he was focused on his own breathing.

The room around him looked like a war-zone, dirty clothes and empty takeout packages and other kind of trash strewn around at random, a large half-empty bottle of sake on the coffee table in front of him with a small ceramic glass beside it and several empty cans of beer dripping some of its contents on to the floor.

 The news anchor was replaced by a commercial of a dark-eyed punk-looking girl drinking soda, her hair was bubblegum pink and clearly dyed.

Naruto felt a sharp pain in his chest, as his throat started to tighten, and his eyes started to feel moist. He reached for the remote control and turned off the television, he laid there staring at his reflection on the dark surface of the screen.

He felt as he looked.

His hair was in even more disarray than usual, it was mated and pale instead of his normal bright shiny blond, it had grown a little bit more than he was comfortable, and a short uneven stubble was forming on his face, there was gunk on the corner of his eyes and he was sure he smelled like a hobo. _Maybe he should take a bath_ , _he hadn’t left his apartment since_ — he narrowed his eyes _what day was today? ­_ He grabbed his cellphone, which he had decided to charge before blocking Sakura’s number.

Friday, June 15 8:14 AM

 _Friday… Friday, there was something he had to do that day_ , he ran a hand through his scrubby hair, cringing at how oily it felt, and heard a tinkling sound, today was the day he was going to meet his fiance, Hyuga Hinata, he jumped out of the couch and shook his whole body, the least he could do was to look presentable.

When he looked himself in the mirror he shuddered, yeah he wasn’t going to steal any hearts looking like war refuge. The first thing he did was prepare himself a nice cup of black coffee, then he took a really long bath, after that he cleaned his apartment and thrown all the thrash that had been accumulating the past weeks, he went to the barbershop to have his hair fixed. It was past three when he returned home, took another bath and started choosing his clothes, he decided for a modern blue suit. When he was about to grab a dark blue tie he stopped.

Once when going to the hospital’s Christmas party Naruto had bought a bright orange tie with red swirls, he had liked that tie, Sakura had said it looked ridiculous, and that she won’t go with him to the party if he wore it, he ended up using the same boring dark blue tie he had in his hands now, he frowned.

Well, fuck that.

He started looking for his tie as it wasn’t with the rest, when he didn’t find it and he was about to give up, he realized he hadn’t searched his bedroom.

As he stood in front of the closed door he had to clench his hands to make them stop shaking, he hadn’t entered his bedroom since that day, for some reason he didn’t want to enter, he didn’t want to remember, he didn’t want to be hurt again. But before he could stop himself he opened the door and took a step forward.

Inside the room he tried to ignore the immaculate bed and went straight to the bedside table, he froze when he found the small velvet case holding the ring he had brought that night.

He had thought of returning it, even throwing it out, it hadn’t even been that expensive, but he decided to simply shove it at the bottom of the drawer, there he found the ‘ridiculous’ orange tie, for the first time in a week he let something akin to a smile set on his face.

After he finished getting ready he looked at his cellphone noticing the blinking light that indicated he had new LINE messages. There was one from Shikamaru, reminding him that he still owed him money for the jail fiasco, there was another from Tsunade-sensei telling him that if he didn’t show his face tomorrow he could say goodbye to passing her class, he grimaced.

The last was a message from his dad with the time and place where he was to met his fiance, the restaurant wasn’t far from home, he still had time so he rested his head on the couch’s backrest and closed his eyes.

He dreamt of a small girl bringing him cake, he couldn't see her face but just as he tried to focus on her she disappeared, suddenly he was again in his bedroom looking at Sakura having sex with Sasuke, he yelled at them but his voice didn’t come out, and his body refused to move, then he slowly he opened his eyes and let out a tired sigh.

_What was wrong with him?_

He looked at his watch and realized he was already late, he jumped out of his couch and ran out of his apartment and into his car, the drive to the restaurant was uneventful and gave Naruto time to think.

He was meeting his fiance, a woman he probably would _need_ to mary whether he liked her or not, well after what happened he wasn’t really interested in falling in love again, the only thing he hoped was that she was at least bearable and that she didn’t look anything like Sakura. 

When he entered the restaurant he looked around and saw the characteristic red hair of his mother and the bright blond hair of his father, they were sitting at a table next to the windows, It seemed that Hyuga Hiashi and Hinata and Neji were already there, Naruto took a moment to observe them before they noticed him.

He looked at Hinata and he didn’t like her at all, her expression was disdainful as she looked around as if she was being forced to be there, the way she looked at his mom and dad didn’t sit well with Naruto at all, she gave the impression of a rich spoiled girl that would rather be shopping with her friends than here.

Although he had to admit that she was beautiful with her pale skin, the fine lines of her face, and her pearly eyes, maybe if she smiled instead of having a frown. Naruto also noticed that she seemed awfully short.

Well, the least he could do was meet her and if he couldn't totally tolerate her he was sure his dad would find another solution.

As he approached the table the first to notice him was Neji who glared at him. Neji had been in the Youth Olympic Games and had lost the semifinals against Naruto who at the time had been representing England, in the finals Naruto lost against Sasuke.

He shook his head, he didn’t really need to think about them now.

When his mom and dad noticed Neji glaring they turned to look at Naruto, when he saw their expressions he almost laughed, he wondered if they thought he wasn’t going to show up, he walked beside his mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek and a curt nod to his father, he sat on one of the two empty chairs next to his mom and in front of Hinata. Who, thinking about it, seemed extremely young.

“Hiashi-san It’s been a while” Naruto lied, he was pretty sure he didn’t remember the man “I’m sorry for being late,” he said, not offering an explanation, Hinata just looked down her nose at Naruto as she narrowed her eyes

_Yes, he didn’t like her at all._

“It’s fine Naruto,” said Hiashi for the first time, “Hinata will be a little late too” Naruto snapped his head to look at the girl in front of him, Hiashi seemed to notice because he continued “This my _youngest_ daughter, Hanabi” Naruto tried not to sigh in relief that she wasn’t his fiance.

“Hanabi?” he asked dumbfounded “Nice to meet you,” Naruto thought he had been able to hide his relief, but when Hanabi looked unimpressed he wasn’t sure anymore.

“Nice to meet you Uzumaki-san” Hanabi offered her hand in that position that indicated you should kiss it, Naruto just shook it. The tension seemed to tighten at the table when Hiashi spoke again

“And I’m sure you already met Neji” Naruto grimaced

“Yes,” said Neji with tight voice “We met before…” Naruto laughed nervously, Hiashi, again, seemed to try to break the ice by speaking.

“You will have to forgive Hinata, she had a last minute commitment, but she will be here any minute now,” Naruto let out a sigh of relief, it was good that the bratty girl wasn’t his fiance. Naruto looked at Hanabi now that he looked at her, he realized that she was really young, like early teens at least. He also realized the dislike was mutual. Naruto smiled at her and the girl simply put on a bored face.

“It’s ok, don’t worry Hiashi-san, I was late too”

There was a long awkward silence that was broken when his mother clapped her hands

“Should we order already?” by the tension of her voice and the expression of both Hanabi and Neji Naruto deduced that the real Hinata was probably furious at being saddled with an arranged marriage, and the whole _‘another appointment’_ was probably a lie and someone else was trying to coax the girl to come. Well if she really was like her sister, Naruto would have to decline.

After they all had ordered –Naruto was sad the Italian restaurant didn’t serve any ramen— Naruto saw how both Neji’s and Hanabi’s face transformed from frowning and hostile to relaxed and smiling.

“Oh, seems that she is already here” Said Hiashi looking over Naruto’s shoulder, He turned around and looked at the restaurant’s entrance.

Time stopped when he saw the girl speaking with the greeter, unbidden memories came rushing into his mind, and he remembered the birthday party when he had met her, the gift he gave her and the lie he had told her so she had the courage to play with the other kids.

Naruto couldn’t notice any of her physical features because he was captivated by the smile she was giving to the greeter and how she bowed when she gave her thanks, as she walked towards their table Naruto realized he had been staring too much with his mouth open, He closed it with an audible click and turned to look at his plate, he could see the blush reflected in the empty plate.

“Good evening, I’m sorry to be late” she said in a soft voice but loud enough to be heard clearly, Hanabi was starry eyed looking at her sister while Hinata went and greeted her father with a kiss on his forehead “Neji-niisan, Hanabi” she greeted both of them with a nod, it wasn’t until Hinata sat that Naruto realized she wasn’t dressed for the occasion, instead of a luxurious dress, a fancy suit or a cute outfit, Hinata was wearing a pair of navy blue sweetpants with a matching zip-up jacket with the Hibiya Highschool logo, she was also carrying a sports bag of the same color and with the same logo on the side “I’m sorry to show up looking like this,” she said to everyone in the table “but one of our new members had a twisted ankle and they asked me to cover for her on the competition” Naruto was surprised to see how happy she looked talking about whatever sport she did. He was, for a moment, tempted to ask her about it.

“Neesama how did it go? Did you win?” Said Hanabi, gone was the unpleasant bratty girl and its place was a little girl with nothing but admiration for her older sister, Naruto was sure Hanabi had completely forgotten he was there. He smiled as he watched the sisters interact, Hinata gave Hanabi a mischievous smile

“What do you think?” she reached to the zipper of her jacket and unzipped it until a large golden medal was visible, Naruto stared dumbly not at the medal but what laid behind.

“Neesama you are the best!” Hanabi gave her sister a hug that Hinata reciprocated. When Hanabi let her go Hinata’s eyes finally looked at his direction

Both of them held their breaths, and Naruto saw how her pale-purple eyes widened a tiny bit, and he wondered if she remembered him. Naruto felt how the tension started to grow to unbearable levels around him, they weren’t the only ones holding their breaths. His parents and Hiashi hoping that he and Hinata didn’t hate each other right away and Hanabi and Neji probably wishing the contrary.

Naruto found the girl cute, he remembered the timid little girl he had met that many years ago and remembered how he had thought of her a weird but cute.

He wondered if she was still weird.

The young woman she had become had the same delicate features as a porcelain doll and her eyes seemed even brighter than he could remember, her hair was longer now than what he remembered, but she still maintained that look of youthfulness and innocence on her face, but it was clear that puberty had been good for her, despite wearing baggy clothes Naruto could clearly see that she had a curves in all the right places.

Not to mention what was hiding behind the zipper of her jacket beside that gold medal she had shown her sister.

Naruto couldn’t help but blush a little, which was kind of ridiculous he wasn’t an hormonal teenager anymore, neither a virgin for that matter.

If someone asked him if he liked Hinata, he would say that he didn’t hate her.

“Hinata” Naruto jumped a little when his father spoke “Let me introduce you to Naruto, my son” he cleared his throat “well, although I think you had already met”

“That was a long time ago,” Said Naruto waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, for some reason Naruto wanted her to know he remembered her, even if he had just remembered about her just now “I’m glad to meet you again Hinata” Hinata’s cheeks pinked a bit, Naruto felt something on his chest.

“Me too, Naruto-kun” the smile that she gave him was as genuine as it was charming, Naruto stared at her rosy lips for longer than he had intended.

When the waiter arrived with their orders they all ate, with small talk between everyone but Hinata and Naruto, he didn’t know why he had started to feel nervous, as the evening continued, the ambient started to fell heavier, everyone knew why they were there and while it was clear that Hinata didn’t hate him right away and Naruto found her pleasant enough there was still the shadow  of the arranged marriage, as the conversation waned Naruto got tired of waiting.

To hell with it!

“So, Hinata,” everyone stopped moving and all the eyes on the table shifted to Naruto “what sport do you practice” there it was, a simple conversation starter, nothing serious. Hinata’s face seemed to brighten even more and graced Naruto with a kind smile

“Oh, I— I do Gymnastics and—”

“Y-Yes! And she is really good at it!” said Hiashi his voice a little bit higher than normal, Hinata glared at her father, and Naruto was glad to see that the girl could get mad “She is so good that her trainers tell her she could even make it to the nationals, but Hinata doesn’t want to take it that far, right Hinata?” Hinata gave her father a nervous smile while nodding her head, she seemed uncomfortable, to be honest, Naruto felt the same. There was a pause in the conversation before Hinata spoke.

“And you Naruto-kun you practice any sport?” it seemed like Hinata wanted, like Naruto, to start a conversation

“Yeah, I did a bit of—”

“He practiced Karate back in high school, he ended up second place in the Junior Olympic Games,” said his father not hiding the proud tone from his voice, Naruto glared at his father as Hinata seemed to shrink in her chair, her shoulders slumped.

“I— I see” she mumbled and although she was smiling it was clear how uncomfortable the situation was for her, Naruto huffed and tried again to start a conversation with his fiance

“Hibiya Highschool, right? What grade are you on?” Hinata opened her mouth to answer but her father interrupted again

“She is in second grade, top of her class,” Hiashi seemed proud at least, but Hinata seemed to shrink even more in her chair, for his part Naruto’s temper had started to rise, did the man thought her incapable of answering a simple question by herself? Hinata was playing with her food and without looking up she mumbled

“Fa… father told me that you are studying medicine, do you plan to join the Konoha hospitals?” she seemed to be deflated with her shoulders hanging and her eyes on her food. Even her voice that had been up to that point, if calm and soft, clear was so low that Naruto had to strain his ears to hear her.

“Of course,” this time it was his mother who spoke “ever since he was little he always said he wanted to be a doctor as good as Minato” Naruto’s left eye twitched, apparently his parents also thought him incapable of maintaining a conversation on his own, he heard Hinata mumble an inaudible ‘I see’ as he continued to play with her food, Naruto huffed

“And what about you Hinata?” Naruto asked, his own stubbornness made him try again to keep a conversation with his fiance “are you going to study medicine?”

The girl looked at Naruto quizzically, she tilted her head for a moment then opened her mouth

“Of course she is going to go into medicine” Said Hiashi, “she will take my place at the hospitals, with you, of course, Right Minato?” both men shared a little nervous laugh like as if what he had said was pure comedic gold, Hinata let out a repressed huff and crossed her arms clearly embarrassed by her father’s behaviour. Naruto didn’t feel embarrassed, he was fucking pissed off, so he stood abruptly slamming his palms on the table making the silverware clatter. The silence that continued was deafening and everyone stared at him with wide eyes.

“Naruto?” asked his mom, in her voice was concern and the realization that her son was livid “is something wrong?”

“No, mom, everything is fine” his voice was cold and heavy as an iceberg “it’s just that I felt a little bit warm and I would like to take a little walk to refresh myself” while he was saying this he walked around the table until he was standing beside Hinata, she looked at him like if he was a going to eat her. Naruto offered his hand “would you like to accompany me, Hinata?” Hinata looked at his hand then at his eyes and smiled, she took his hand and Naruto pulled her up softly, and without letting her hand go they started to walk towards the restaurant’s exit.

“Naruto?” said his father “What are you doing?” Naruto turned around to look at his father trying to ignore how right Hinata’s small and soft hand felt warped around his

“What I was supposed to do,” he said more brusquely than he intended “To met my fiance” He saw how Hanabi stood up and opened her mouth but Neji put a hand on her shoulder and _made_ her sit again “and I mean really met her, not whatever version you want present to me”

“Naruto!” said his mom with a tone, that in the past, when he was younger, would have made him apologize instantly, now it had zero effect.

“And I want her to met me, the real me!” Naruto turned and continued his way towards the exit with Hinata’s hand still in his.

If anyone at the table said anything Naruto didn’t hear them.


	5. A Pleasant Surprise

**Sorry for the long wait, I have been doing progress on both this, and Green Eyes plus I have been reading lots of Manga recently.**

**Again, as always, If you find any misspells or other grammar errors send me a PM so I can fix them**

Hinata gave her thanks to the restaurant’s greeter and headed to the table the man had pointed, after sitting she set her eyes on the blond sitting next to Kushina-san, she felt her face warm a bit, the little boy she remembered had become a handsome young man, yet his blue eyes still had a hint of playful mischievousness that contrasted with his striking presence, but behind that, almost imperceptible, there was something that Hinata recognized as sadness.

When the conversation started to dwindle and Naruto talked to her, Hinata’s heart jumped. she felt embarrassed when her father spoke on her behalf and as their _‘conversation’_ continued Hinata didn’t feel like trying to talk to Naruto anymore.

Then, He slammed his hands on the table as he stood up, Hinata flinched at the sound, before she realized she was being walked out of the restaurant with Naruto’s large and warm hand warped around hers.

As she followed him, Hinata noted his wide shoulders and back, he wasn’t exactly muscular but his body was different than Toneri’s, she realized that Toneri was a boy and Naruto was a man, he was at least a head taller than Hinata.

His hand was holding hers firmly but without hurting and, Hinata noticed, his strides seemed measured to fit Hinata’s pace of walking even though Naruto’s legs were clearly longer.

Hinata started to feel nervous, she realized that she was going to be alone with him, back in the restaurant she was relaxed knowing Neji-niisan and her father were there, but now, she was alone with a man she had met once ten years ago, even if he was to be her fiance, she didn’t know if he was still the same boy that had helped her make friends or— Hinata started to lose confidence, and for a moment she felt like the lonely, shy girl she had been back then, unconsciously she reached for her neck and flicked the bell on her necklace. She would have crashed into Naruto-kun’s back when he stopped so abruptly if it wasn’t for the quick reflexes honed during so many training sessions.

Naruto turned to her and stared at her chest and then smiled, Hinata felt her blood rush to her face, _was he staring at her breasts? Was he that kind of man?_ Hinata felt something heavy set on her stomach, her face dropped as sadness engulfed her, _what was she hoping for_?

“Oh, you still have it?” Hinata looked up to find Naruto’s clear blue eyes locked on to hers with a smile that brightened his whole face, Hinata, confused, could only stare back as she lost herself in them. Then Naruto lifted his right hand and gave it a wiggle, she heard a very familiar sound of a bell.

On his wrist, Naruto had a bell just like hers dangling from a sturdy looking leather cord. Hinata’s eyes widened. It took her a second to realize it was her own bell’s twin. But instead of looking pristine like hers, his looked worn out with scratches and nicks, even the cord seemed old and frayed.

Like as if he never took it off.

“You still have yours!” she said before she could stop herself, a smile formed on her face, Naruto’s smile turned into a full-blown grin and Hinata noted that the shadow of sadness she had seen in his eyes before was gone. They gazed at each other staying silent and when Naruto gave her hand a squeeze Hinata’s squawked and pulled her hand out of Naruto’s, he let her go and saw his smile waver a bit.

“Sorry,” he seemed apologetic, his eyes downcast

“Don’t be, I was just startled,” said Hinata shaking her head “I’m sorry” Naruto smile returned to his face

“I’m sorry about my dad—"

“I’m sorry about my parents—”

They said at the same time and chuckled, Naruto continued

“Let’s stop apologizing, ok?” Hinata nodded “Look I just want to have a conversation with you, I know they want us to get along—” he paused as he seemed to realize something “—do you know about the situation?” he said the last word as if it was a bad one, her face fell as she thought that Naruto was only doing this because of the ‘ _situation’_

“Yes, about Shimura-san and—” she was staring at Naruto’s shoes when she was interrupted

“Well for today let’s forget about that,” Hinata looked up at his face and she saw nothing but a kind smile that reached his eyes “let’s get to know each other first” Naruto offered his hand and Hinata’s hesitantly took it, this time Naruto grip was softer, she barely could feel his hand, and Hinata realized that if she wanted she could easily let his hand go unlike early where he had had a firm grip on hers.

They walked for a few minutes in silence until they reached a nearby park, the sun had already set but it was well lit and people were still walking around. She even saw some couples holding hands, she wondered if they saw them as a couple too. Hinata’s face warmed when she realized that that was probably the case considering they were holding hands.

They sat on a bench overseeing the park’s lake, there was a flock of ducks gliding through the crystal clear surface and not far from the lakeside was a group of kids playing with a ball. Naruto was the first to talk.

“So you do gymnastics?” Naruto said looking at the ducks their joined hands resting in between them, Hinata wondered if he had forgotten to let her hand go or he was holding it because he wanted to.

“Yes, and my father was exaggerating, I don’t think I can make it to the nationals,” she said her shoulders slumping and her voice low, Naruto turned to look at her and raised one eyebrow.

“But did your trainer really said you could?” he asked, his eyes looked down at her.

“Well… yes, he did but—” Hinata stopped when Naruto grinned at her “ –What?”

“And you won a gold medal today?” his eyes flicked to her chest, Hinata nodded “Then maybe you could really make it?” Hinata smiled accepting the praise gracefully with a nod

“And you?” she said and Naruto looked confused “did really you compete at the Youth Olympics?” Naruto blushed and started rubbing the back of his head with his free hand “It, It wasn’t a big deal and I lost the finals…” he trailed and Hinata saw the sadness return to his eyes even more intense than before, she frowned wondering if she had said something wrong.

“Is there something wrong?” she asked, Naruto gave her a tight smile and he let out a heavy sigh

“No, Is just that— I lost to… a friend, he was like my brother until a few weeks ago” Naruto seemed uncomfortable, his eyes shifted back to the pond and his hand rubbed the back of his head.

“You don’t need to—” she said as she put her other hand over their joined hands

“No it’s fine” he rubbed his nose “I don’t know why but… it’s easy to talk to you” he snorted “god, that sounded so corny” Hinata smiled at him but remained silent the silence continued for a short time before he spoke.

“Sasuke” he stopped and closed his eyes as if saying the name pained him “He was like my brother, and Sakura…” he stopped and tightly closed his eyes again, then he shook his head “I loved her since I was little, she was my girlfriend” he ran a hand through his hair “god… I was so stupid”

Hinata’s throat tightened, the way he had said those words… he sounded so hurt, so pained that Hinata could feel his pain on her own chest.

“Na-Naruto-kun?”

“I found them on our own bed, together,”  he almost spat the last word, Hinata gasped “Sakura always loved Sasuke, but he never returned her feelings, he was really popular and had many girlfriends through all of high school and college, he would date someone until he was bored and dump them, but he never made a pass on her, I always thought he saw her as a sister” his expression was one full of irony “I guess I was wrong, Dad told me about the engagement a few hours before that and I was furious about it. Now looking back I feel like the biggest idiot”

“Don’t say that you didn’t do anything wrong, did you?” Hinata gave his hand a squeeze, they had been holding hands since they left the restaurant, she remembered it took her weeks to be comfortable holding Toneri’s hand, she wondered why it was so easy with Naruto-kun “I… I broke up with my boyfriend this week too” Naruto’s eyebrows raised in surprise

“Was… Was it because of our engagement, if so, I’m sorry—”

Hinata shook her head “No, he believed I was fooling around with Neji-niisan” to her surprise Naruto snorted, Hinata coked her head and frowned at him

“Oh, no, sorry... it’s just that, well, I know Neji, he is such a straight arrow that the notion seems ridiculous” he chuckled

“He is a very serious person” she giggled covering her mouth

“You seemed to know my mother,” he asked, clearly trying to stir the conversation away from that topic, Hinata let out a sigh carefully considering her next words

“Yes, my mother, she died after giving birth to Hanabi, I have some memories of her, but Hanabi…” Hinata paused feeling tightness on her chest “…father sometimes invited your parents home, and Kushina would tell us stories about Mother and Father during their college days” Hinata saw how one of the ducklings at the lake strayed away from its mother “I’m really grateful to Kushina for that”

“And did my mother ever talk about me?” Hinata frowned and tried to remember, she put a finger on her chin as she looked up at the starry night sky.

“mmm no… I don’t think so—” then Hinata’s stomach growled, long and loud, time seemed to stop as Naruto-kun stared at her his mouth half open.

Hinata could feel the heat on her face as blood rushed her cheeks, even more so when Naruto’s perplexed expression changed to a mischievous            smirk

“Hinata-san!” he said with a teasing tone, his hand in his mouth.

“So-sorry—” Hinata was about to start apologizing when she noticed Naruto-kun shoulders shaking. She narrowed her eyes.

He let out a loud bark-like laughter, his hands in his stomach as he doubled over, Hinata continued to stare at him thought her slitted eyes, _was he making fun of her?_ when Naruto-kun finally calmed down and looked down at her –he was wiping a tear from his left eye– his face went pale and his body rigid.

“Oh, sorry— I didn’t mean to laugh at you… It’s just that you are so elegant and cute that it took me by surprise”

Naruto-kun seemed to realize what he just had said because he froze, they both stared at each other for a second.

“Uhm… are you hungry?” Hinata opened her mouth to answer but Naruto-kun continued “Of course you are.” He stood up and offered his hand to her Hinata took his hand again and saw him smile at her.

They walked back in the direction of the restaurant but just before they reached it, he stopped and turned to look at Hinata, he gave her a piercing look that made Hinata nervous.

“Do you like ramen?” he asked, Hinata considered the question, she hadn’t ever eaten ramen in her life, if not for other reason that father preferred western-style food and she really never had the inclination to eat it at a ramen shop. When he looked at Naruto-kun’s expectant expression she considered, for an instant, lying to him.

“Uhm… actually, I have never eaten it” Naruto-kun’s face went pale his face full of shock

“That can’t be true!” his voice was a little bit higher pitched than normal “… then let’s go, we’ll eat the second best ramen in the world” Naruto-kun pulled Hinata in the direction of the parking lot

O=O=O=O

Back in freshman year, Naruto learned a lesson from Shikamaru.

 _If it's too good to be true, then it probably is_.

He thought it applied in this situation, he was driving his car with a gorgeous schoolgirl that seemed innocent and seemingly flawless –Except for the fact that she had never eaten ramen, of course— that same girl was his fiance. Not only that marrying her would help save his family business, and prevent a lot of pain for a lot of people that worked for his parent’s hospitals.

_It was too good to be true._

Maybe she was doing this just to save her family’s business, maybe she was as haughty as her little sister, maybe this was a setup by His father and Hiashi… maybe— Naruto didn’t really know what to think, but what he was doing now was trying to gauge her, to really get to know her… and the first step was taking her to Ichiraku’s.

Old-man Teuchi was a family friend, back when mom and dad were university students they spent countless hours studying at Ichiraku’s even before they had started dating ‘officially’, according to grandpa mom and dad where childhood friends and everyone knew they would end up together sooner or later. 

As Naruto pulled next to the alley where the Ichiraku’s ramen shop was, he carefully observed Hinata’s reaction, he was sure he would know her real character by how she reacted.

The alley was dingy and narrow there was a dirty and old sing inviting people into Ichiraku’s, some people were walking through the alley, he still remembered the first and last time he brought Sakura here. The expression on her face had been something that had been only been surpassed by the fight they had afterward.

When Naruto parked the car and went to open Hinata’s door she was already out of the car with a smile on her face, Naruto noticed she was sniffing, Naruto gave her a questioning look. _She probably was thinking this place smelled dirty or something_

“It smells nice!” she said, “I’m starving!” Naruto let out a sigh of relief, he offered his arm to her, she looked at it for a second before linking hers with his. when they walked into Ichiraku’s they heard the sound of a bell, Naruto looked at the counter where Ayame looked up from where she was fiddling with the cash register, her change in expression made him almost laugh.

First she smiled and raised her hand to wave at him, but before she could say anything her eyes landed on Hinata, she froze and her eyes went wide as she stared at her –He felt Hinata grip his arm a little tighter– then at their interlocked arms, then at Naruto, Ayame’s shocked expression was replaced by a frown which confused Naruto for a moment, before he realized she didn’t know he had broken up with Sakura.

This gave Naruto an idea, he smirked inwardly.

“Ayame-nee!” Said Naruto cheerfully as he approached the counter, Ayame narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, she raised one eyebrow. Naruto knew that mean she wanted an explanation “Good evening,” he smiled broadly at her

“Na-Naruto! What brings you here tonight?” her voice was strained and she was gripping a tablecloth rather tightly, Naruto smile widened even more

“Oh nothing we are extremely _tired_ and _hungry_ , so we decided to come and eat something… to replenish our energy, if you know what I mean…” he winked at Ayame-nee whose face became red, not from embarrassment, but because she was angry, from the corner of his eyes he could see Hinata looking at him with a questioning expression “so what about it? I’m in the mood for pork ramen” Ayame stared at Naruto for a moment before jotting down something in her notepad

“Right” she turned to look Hinata, “and for your _friend?”_ the last word was said, with a tone that made Naruto positive Ayame-nee thought he was being unfaithful to Sakura… if only she knew.

“Oh,” he smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand “Sorry, Hinata, This is Ayame-nee I’ve known her since I was little, she used to babysit me when mom and dad were too busy. Ayame-nee this is Hyuga Hinata” he paused for a moment for dramatic purposes “she is my fiancee” Hinata’s head whipped to look at Naruto, maybe she was surprised at how easy he introduced her as his fiancee, Hinata bowed her head before speaking,

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Said Hinata

Ayame-nee just stood there speechless, with her mouth half open, Naruto ignored her reaction and looked at Hinata, Her face was red like a strawberry, for a moment he was taken aback.

“Hinata you haven’t eaten ramen before, right?” Hinata stared at him for a moment before she shook her head “hmm I think for first timers Miso is a good choice what do you think?” Hinata nodded, Naruto was surprised how he was able to stay calm and not burst out laughing like a madman

_He was having so much fun_

“Fi- Fi- Fiancee!” Ayame-nee yelled while pointing at Hinata, Naruto couldn’t stop himself and let out a loud bark-like laughter “what do you mean fiance!? stop laughing at me!” Naruto laughed even harder “What happened with Sakura-san?” and Naruto became silent instantly, he closed his eyes for a moment trying to draw away the memories, he felt Hinata squeeze his arm, he opened his eyes and smiled at Ayame-nee

“It’s a long story— we broke up” Ayame-nee looked at Naruto, for a moment brown eyes stared a back at blue ones. She nodded.

“DAD!” she yelled making both Naruto and Hinata jump “come ‘ere you old coot!” the curtain that covered the Kitchen’s entrance moved to reveal old man Teuchi, he had a frown on his face as he glared at his daughter, he opened his mouth but noticed Naruto first

“Naruto!” Teuchi extended his arms as a greeting “Long time no see” then he stopped and looked at Hinata “Who is this pretty girl?”

“His fiancee,” Ayame-nee said, Teuchi looked at Hinata from head to toe. then at Naruto and gave him a smile

“You lucky fox! Right! just for today, to celebrate, the food is on the house!”

“Thank you old man! Come Hinata, let’s find a table” Naruto walked towards an empty table near the shop’s windows, Hinata sat in front of him, she seemed extremely quiet and uncomfortable, her shoulders were slumped and she was fidgeting with her hands.

“Is there something wrong?”

“uhm, you see… about our engagement… I’m not sure—”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you to forget about it for today?” Hinata looked confused as she stared at Naruto

“But you said to Ayame-san and Teuchi-san—”

“That? I only did it to get free ramen” Naruto smirked “Let me tell you a secret” Naruto lowered his “There is no better ramen than free ramen” He smirked when Hinata smiled at him, from the corner of his eyes he saw Teuchi and Ayame whispering to each other, then he saw Ayame-nee walk to their table.

“Umm… Hinata-san—”  Naruto looked at Ayame-nee, she seemed a bit nervous by the way was wringing her apron “I know this may sound weird…” Naruto frowned at Ayame-nee, she usually was more assertive, “and you can decline if you don’t want—” she paused for a moment before speaking again “I mean is a bit silly but—”

“Ayame-nee, out with it!” said Naruto as he rolled his eyes, Ayame-nee glared a Naruto before turning to Hinata

“Right, the old man thought that, as you are becoming Naruto’s wife, it would be a good idea for you to learn to cook the best ramen in the world…” Ayame-nee smiled at Hinata, then glared at Naruto “This knucklehead eats ramen as if it was water… so you need to be prepared”

Hinata accepted Ayame-nee’s invitation and both girls walked to the open kitchen, Naruto couldn’t hear what they were talking about but Hinata seemed to be actually interested in learning to cook ramen.

Ayame-nee had given Hinata a white apron and tied up her long dark blue hair into a ponytail, It was like that that Naruto spent the next fifteen minutes watching Ayame-nee and Teuchi give Hinata a crash course on how to prepare ramen. It wasn’t like they would teach her how to make ramen from scratch, even his mom took a good four to six hours just to make the broth.

But with how much they were talking with Hinata it was clear that they were doing this to get to know her. Naruto smiled, he was happy knowing that both the old man and Ayame-nee were concerned for him. They would know if Hinata was really hiding something.

They really never liked Sakura that much, maybe they were a better judge of character than him. He felt a numb pain in his chest, he wondered if it would ever stop hurting as he stared at Hinata serve two bowls of ramen.

She looked like a normal high school girl, with her sports jersey and the plain apron she was wearing, not like the first daughter of the Hyuga family. Just a normal girl having fun.

After Hinata set the ramen bowls on their table, she sat in front of him, Naruto stared at her hair which was now in a pair of braids that made her look even younger, after a few moments just as Hinata was going to start eating she looked up and her eyes meet Naruto’s 

“Naruto-kun?” she tilted her head to the left with a confused expression

“Oh— sorry it’s just that your hair…”

“Ayame-san said it would be easier to eat ramen if my hair isn’t getting in the way” then she frowned “does it look weird?”

“N-No! it looks cute” Hinata’s face went pale then deep red, her blushing made him blush too, he covered his face with both his hands “Sorry… I don’t know—”

“It’s ok… thanks… let’s eat, the ramen will get cold”

They ate in silence for a few minutes, Naruto noticed that Hinata seemed to be enjoying her the ramen, the small sounds she made each time she tasted the broth were innocent but combined with the way she was slurping the noddles and the how the warm broth made her face and neck a bit sweaty— Naruto had never seen something so sexy. He shook his head to clear his mind of impure thoughts and tried to remind himself that Hinata was still a high school girl.

To his surprise, they both finished eating at roughly the same time Naruto ordered another bowl of spicy pork ramen. Another surprise, Hinata ordered another bowl, this time it was shio ramen, they took their time and talked about a few nonsensical things, about their schools and their families, their likes and dislikes, about Hinata’s love for gymnastics, and about her friend Tenten.

It was overall a very enjoyable time.

After their third bowl both Him and Hinata were completely full, he checked the time and saw that it was past ten, tomorrow was a school day and he didn’t want Hinata to lose sleep

“Did you like it? The ramen I mean”

“It was delicious, I kind of regret never eating before”

Naruto looked at Hinata for a moment “Kind of?” he asked and Hinata ducked her head and started fidgeting with her fingers

“Umm, well I’m happy that my first time was with you…” she trailed and Naruto’s eyes widened, then in almost slow motion, Hinata realized what she had said “I mean— I meant eating ramen!” her face was red but it had been so since her last bowl had been extra spicy

“Of course… yes— I know!” Naruto checked his clock again “I think is time I take you home, it’s already half past ten, you have school tomorrow, right?”

After saying goodnight to Ayame-nee and Teuchi, just as they were about to get out of the restaurant Ayame called him, she waved at him to go over the cash register, Naruto shrugged and went to her leaving Hinata waiting at the door

“Ayame-nee?”

“Naruto, I don’t know what happened with Sakura-san, and to be honest I don’t really care much about her” Naruto nodded “But Hinata-san seems like a very nice girl, you better treat her well… or else” Ayame-nee raised her fist and touched Naruto’s chin with her knuckles, Naruto’s eyebrows were raised up to his hairline

“Wow, you like her that much?” Naruto asked

“To be honest, I think she may be too good for you,” Ayame-nee said this as she gave him a wide grin and a noogie, Naruto slapped her hand away

“Stop it”

“Ok, go you fool” Ayame looked over her shoulder “Hinata-san! Bye bye!” Ayame-nee waved at Hinata who waved back

As Naruto was driving in direction of the Hyuga mansion, many things passed through his mind, but at the forefront of all his thoughts was

_Hinata is genuinely a nice girl_

Ayame-nee has always been sharp as a hawk, he would trust her judgment.

As they pulled over on the Mansion’s gates Naruto walked Hinata to her house’s door just before she opened the door she turned on her heels, her face had a determined expression as she looked up at Naruto.

“Naruto-kun, to be honest when my father told me about meeting you— I didn’t want to, I don’t want my father to chose my future” Naruto nodded feeling a hole in his chest “but tonight I had lots of fun” Hinata gave Naruto a wide grim completely different from the gentle smile he had seen before.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, he looked away from Hinata for a second before looking at her again “Umm, Well, I was the same, I had a huge row with my parents when they told me, but after what happened I had given up, I was ready to go with the engagement as long as you were tolerable” Naruto shrugged “I’m sorry”

“It’s fine, I understand” Hinata looked down at her feet and her shoulders dropped a bit

“but, I didn’t think I would like you this much” Hinata looked up

“You like me?”

“Yes, I like you, but… let’s take it slow, we both just ended up our previous relationships, and we can’t start something just after our first date”

“First date?” Naruto looked confused for a moment

“Yes, Hinata, this was our first date…”

“Oh” it’s all she said, Naruto felt a little bit audacious, he put his palm on the door, making Hinata take a step back, her back touched the door and she looked up at Naruto, he stared at her lips, they looked moist and inviting, he leant down slowly, his face closer and closer to Hinata’s, she looked nervous, like a small rabbit being stared down by a fox.

_That didn’t feel right._

Naruto planted a soft kiss on Hinata’s right cheek, and pulled back, Hinata was breathing heavy her face flushed. _Had that been too much?_

“I’m sorry,” he said

“No, don’t be” Hinata turned around, her braids swaying behind her, she opened the door and he could catch a glimpse of the entrance hall, Hinata stepped inside and turned to look at Naruto

“Naruto-kun, until next time,” she smiled sincerely, and Naruto could see something like hope in her eyes

“Yes, next time” before Hinata closed the door Naruto remembered something “Wait, I don’t have your LINE ID” Hinata stopped and before taking a notepad from her bag scribbling something on it and ripping out a slip of paper, she gave Naruto the slip, It had her LINE Id, Phone Number, and email.

“Good night Hinata”

“Good Night Naruto-kun”

As he was driving back home, Hinata’s contact info in his pocket seemed like charm that was sucking all the sadness he had felt the past days, he was thinking what would be a place to take her into a second date, Yakiniku Q was a nice restaurant that Shikamaru liked, or maybe something fancy like Italian or French… Hinata had told him that she really liked cinnamon rolls and about this cake shop near her school called Akatsuki, maybe he would take her there.

after he parked his car, he got out feeling extremely light, he was almost skipping as she whistled a tune and played with his car keys, he was so focused on thinking where to take Hinata for their second date that he didn’t notice the man standing next to his door

Black eyes stared back at him with a frown on his handsome face, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned on Naruto’s house’s door.

“I’ve been waiting for you” Naruto smile disappeared, and he felt extremely heavy as if he was trying to walk on the ocean’s floor, and that same feeling of hopelessness returned to his chest, the date he had with Hinata seemed like a long memory from years past “we need to talk”

“Sasuke?”

 


End file.
